When: 9th of March
Where: Hokitika, West
coast
How...
Hokitika is about a three and a half hour drive from Christchurch, with
absolutely stunning views as you cross over Arthur's Pass National Park. The
festival begins on the Friday night and continues until the early hours of
Sunday morning. The main attraction is the Saturday festival, which starts at
10am and finishes at 5pm. The population of Hokitika quadruples during this
weekend, with up to 18,000 people attending the festival. There is a range of accommodation
available in Hokitika, however, it does need to be booked well in advance. For
people travelling on a budget, many of the local schools become camp grounds
over the weekend. Dressing up is highly encouraged and the "best dressed" receives a $1000 travel voucher.
The Wild Food Festival is famous for the special West Coast food that is
on offer. At the festival you will find things such as huhu grubs, crickets, mountain
oysters (aka sheep testicles), brain, vertebrae, duck stomach, horse semen, pukeko,
raw tuna, gourmet garden snails, colostrum desserts, moonshine and elderflower and
rhubarb champagne. There is also plenty of West Coast whitebait and fresh berry
desserts for those not so keen to try the interesting wild foods. The food is reasonably
priced, between $1 and $5. To wash down the wild foods there is plenty of local
Monteiths beer on tap.
As the sun goes down many people head to the beach, which
was covered in bonfires for as far as you can see. Here, you can have a few
drinks and socialise with the other hundreds of other festival goers. The
following morning there is a mass exit from the town. It is definitely
recommended to either get up early, or else stay in Hokitika for the day and
explore this beautiful West Coast mining town.
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