Hokitika Wildfoods Festival 2006
The Hokitika Wildfoods Festival is a premier special event in New Zealand, attracting thousands of people each year to Hokitika to celebrate the wild foods that New Zealand can offer. From huhu grubs and earthworm dishes to raw fish and crayfish, you can tantilise those taste buds with something from the Wildfoods Festival in New Zealand.
The first Wildfoods Festival in New Zealand attracted a crowd of 1800 with renowned New Zealand cook Alison Holst as a culinary judge. The second attracted 2000, the third, almost 4000, and the crowd continued to be enthused and to grow annually. The 11th Wildfoods Festival in in 2000 attracted 16,000 - a fair few for the small town of Hokitika to cope with! By year four the festival had grown to such an extent the Westland District Council took over responsibility.
Now the rest of the world has been entranced by the magical idea of a wild foods festival in a real Wild West region of New Zealand. People from all over the world now make their way to the West Coast of New Zealand to be a part of this thrilling event.
The Hokitika Wildfoods Festival has received awards and accolades for it's contribution to New Zealand. Research in 1998 showed that the town has benefited by more than $1.5 million from the one-day event.
The 17th Hokitika Wildfoods Festival in New Zealand is held on Saturday 11 March, 2006 at Cass Square. Tickets are being sold now, so don't miss out!
History
In the beginning there was a call for a celebration with the completion of a heritage area development, depicting the town's origin as a gold mining port, on the quayside of the Hokitika River. It was local woman Claire Bryant who instigated the first celebration of local wild foods as a festival event. Her wine cellar was pretty well stocked with a home brew of West Coast gorse flower wine and people were also clambering for a taste of her rose petal brew.
West Coasters quickly caught on to the magic of the idea. Supported by the locals and the dynamic Heritage development group, Ms Bryant took part in organising a highly successful Hokitika Wildfoods Festival beside the river on the new heritage area. The event coincided with the 125th anniversary of the birth of Hokitika in March 1990.
The rest of New Zealand was captured by the magic of the idea - a festival celebrating Hokitika, and the wild foods of the West Coast.
Foods on Display
Apart from hunting the mountains for pigs, deer, thar and chamois and fishing the sea, keen stallholders have not left many stones unturned in their efforts to explore edible possibilities. Even garden weeds have been discovered as herbs useful in festival salads and beverages.
They have chopped into rotten logs, dug into mother earth, skinned possums and rabbits, raided birds' nests stealthily, lifted garden leaves at night by torchlight, retrieved offal, set pots in dark creeks, dropped hooks offshore and raced to beat the dog to the spoils at stock castrating time!
All wild game and fish must have MAF certification before it can be served at the Wildfoods Festival in New Zealand, and inspectors are on the job to ensure festival consumers' safety. There's still plenty of taste delights to satisfy the palate of hardy Festival goers. West Coast or Hokitika whitebait is one of the most popular wild foods consumed at the festival.
Chewers' challenges at the Hokitika Wildfoods Festival are likely to be included on the bushtucker gourmet extravaganza menu. Such dishes include: earthworm dishes, wallaby, kangaroo, wild berry treats, home made pavlova, buffalo, roast boar, venison, emu, huhu grubs, snails, raw fish, crayfish, marlin, shark penis and eel.
Entertainment
Even Hokitika wild foods and beverages would be somewhat lacking without appropriate festival entertainment. The atmosphere is just great! Top class entertainment roves about the festival all day and performs on stages throughout the 11,000 sq metre arena.
Top New Zealand entertainers have appeared including: The New Zealand Army Band, Steve McDonald, The Wizard of Christchurch, and Wayne Mason.
The night-time knees-up in the giant marquee is always jam-packed with revelers keen to rock the night away.
Location
From the mountains to the sea - a narrow strip of scenic wonders is located on the West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand. Hokitika has a colourful history. Settled in the 1860's after the discovery of gold, Hokitika soon developed into one of the busiest ports in New Zealand. Today it is a town with wide attractive streets, friendly people and a population 3,500.
Tourism, farming, fishing and forestry provide for the economy.
Text and images supplied by wildfoods.co.nz
