Local Wild Food Festival Wins National Award

Whakatāne District Council's Local Wild Food Festival has taken out the award for Community or Not-for-Profit Event of the Year (under 3000 participants) at the New Zealand Event Awards held on Tuesday.

The festival was held in February at Mahy Reserve, Ōhope. Events Team Leader Kim Fort said the Council was "Stoked" with the result.

It's an acknowledgement of nine years of mahi from our supporters and partners of the event."

"We're absoloutely delighted."

The event was also nominated for the Local Government Event of the Year.

Fort says they are celebrating 10 years of the event next year and that the award will boost the growth of the festival even more. "It started off quite small in Te Mānuka Tūtahi Mataatua Marae and then it outgrew that space after about two or three years." Fort says that every year since the event has been at Mahy Reserve, it has gone from strength to strength.

"There used to be two or three food trucks, now we've got something like fifteen food trucks."

Environmental groups have also thrown their support behind the festival. Demonstration areas showed what to do with food from the natural environment, and this year a smoky-zone featured meat being cooked over open fire.

That's all in addition to the live music, food tastings and usual festival activities.

Fort expects these aspects to grow as the event continues to develop.

She says the last two years of the event have attracted half of it's attendees from outside the district, making it a great economic addition to the area.

"And of course it aligns so beautifully with our natural environment. Our place."