More than 1200 young people will walk in their brightest colours from Tahuna Park to the Oval later this year to commemorate World War One.

It will be part of Embarkation Weekend, signalling 100 years since more than 1100 men left Otago for a war that killed 18,000 Kiwis.

The weekend is just one of many events planned to commemorate the war, with Otago getting a head start before the rest of the nation.