Local appetites grow for Feast Waikato

Foodies rejoice! The regions’ premier food festival is returning for its second year for four delicious days in April 2020.

Feast Waikato showcases the regions’ vibrant food scene through different and exciting culinary events. From family friendly outdoor movies to gourmet markets and masterclasses for gastronomes - there’s something for everyone.

Event organisers, Waikato Food Inc, have made it their mission to champion the Waikato food scene and spearheaded the festival in 2019 with great success. 

“We have this huge region that reaches from coast to coast, from Raglan to Coromandel and everything in between. There’s so much variety in terms of produce and passionate chefs and Feast Waikato celebrates all of that,” says Esther Burnett of Waikato Food Inc.

The theme for the 2020 festival is ‘Welcome Home’ with events reflecting unique regional offerings and flavours based on different interpretations of this.

“We want people to come along and get a real sense of local identity and pride from realising what’s in their backyard. Whether it’s through meeting producers, eating together or learning new cooking skills from our best chefs, people will leave full and inspired,” says Burnett.

The Hamilton CBD Events Progressive Dinner will launch the event in style with four courses highlighting the best inner-city eateries as guests make their way down the river.

A ‘river meets the sea’ hub will see Coromandel food producers set up a speciality market with a long lunch celebrating coastal fare.

With the support of Hamilton City Council, the festival will also showcase spaces maintained by the council. There are plans to host cookery book writer talks at the Hamilton libraries and something special at Hamilton Zoo. The Hamilton Gardens hub will host the Kaivolution long lunch, workshops and family friendly activities across the four days. While the CBD Events hub on Victoria on the river will once again hold free outdoor food films and be the central location to get event programmes and information.

Beyond Hamilton, a Raglan food trail will take curious foodies on a delicious tour to meet local producers and finish with a sumptuous meal at the end. The likes of Hunt and Gather Honey and Raglan Chocolate, to name a few, will be on the list.

Waikato Food Inc are looking for more event hosts keen deliver a dynamic experience that reflects the theme, ‘Welcome Home’. Expressions of interest are open until early January with more information on the organisations’ website www.waikatofoodinc.com/feastwaikato