Maketu vows to hold festival next year

The annual Maketu Rotary Club Kaimoana Festival will go ahead next year, despite a rahui on all local seafood.

Festival chairwoman Julie Crossley said the Rena disaster would not affect the event, as all seafood sold had to be sourced through a supplier as stipulated by Ministry of Fisheries.

The festival, on March 10, 2012, is a celebration of Maketu and more than ever, the town needs a positive after what they've suffered, Ms Crossley says.

Oil from the Rena has riled the small community, which relies heavily on local seafood and prides itself on its pristine environment.

The Maketu estuary is home to thousands of coastal birds - many of them endangered.

Ms Crossley said organisers were pressing ahead with the festival and hoped to lure tourists back to the town, which had experienced a cancellation of bookings for summer accommodation.

"We want to still celebrate what we've got," she said.

Maketu's kaimoana festival is a family affair and will feature 15 food stalls for seafood and non-seafood lovers; plus entertainment, including headline act and tribute band, Madsen Brothers, and TV celebrity and fishing guru, Geoff Thomas. This is the fifth year the festival has run and traditionally attracts more than 2000 people.

Owner of Maketu Hilltop Holiday Park Phillip O'Reilley said a saturation of Rena stories - mostly from television media - had given the impression things were worse than they were at Bay of Plenty beaches. He said surfers were still surfing at Maketu's Newdicks Beach and business owners were hopeful the beaches would open for summer.

If anything Psa had hit his business worse than Rena, with a drop in kiwifruit workers seeking accommodation, he said.

"It could be 1000 times worse. The ones that have cancelled their accommodation will be missing out on a great time."