Foodlovers rejoice! It's time to welcome in a slew of foodie gatherings, the new, the contemporary and the classic. Here are three unmissable food and wine festivals to mark in your calendars and whet your appetites.
Winter F.A.W.C. 2022
What is it?
Hawke's Bay's Food & Wine Classic runs twice a year – in winter and summer – and offers visitors an introduction to one of New Zealand's most bountiful food producing areas. While the summer FAWC runs for 10 days in a row, the winter version is held over four consecutive weekends, and offers long lunches, indulgent dinners, workshops, talks and even a miniature foodie film festival.
When is it?
3 – 26 June 2022
Go for...
This year's programme is bursting with highlights. Get in quick for truffle hunts and degustations at or fig-pruning classes, and if you prefer to sit back and watch, the first weekend offers a miniature film festival (including Stephen Graham's Boiling Point, which critics adored). Some events are already sell-outs so act now. If the event you fancy has sold out, it's worth checking out the FAWC Marketplace where you can sign up for waiting lists and buy unwanted tickets from private traders. Go to fawc.co.nz for tickets.
Dine Dunedin 2022
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What is it?
Dine Dunedin showcases the best of the city's flavour, through four types of events – there are lunches, experiences that include cooking classes, special dinners and guest chef appearances, drinks-focused events such as tastings and cocktail-themed evenings, and a burger festival that runs at venues across the city and goes to a public vote for the city's finest.
When is it?
12 - 21 August
Go for...
To uncover a hidden gem. Dunedin's culinary scene is bursting with secret spots to discover. The programme will be announced on xxx, so check dinedunedin.co.nz for more details.
Wellington on a Plate 2022
What is it?
WOAP is a city-wide takeover of culinary events across Wellington. Our nation's capital has long prided itself on being the country's most delicious destination, and Wellington on a Plate is its moment to shine. Bars and eateries across the city go to town for this event - go highbrow with fine dining or lowbrow with burgers (more than 200 venues are taking part this year!), or get hands-on with workshops across the city. This year's programme is rich with nostalgia - family traditions and heritage, with a taste of international cultures such as Inuit, First Nations, Filipino, Indian Jewish and Syrian.
When is it?
1 - 31 August
Go for...
A city adventure in our culinary capital. Cocktails play a huge part of the festival - this year more than 80 bars. Try the Pandan Express at Dragonfly, which celebrates the bar's in-house gin, Josephine's Secret at Crumpet, which blends cognac, cherry, bittersweet Amer Picon and vanilla icecream or at CGR Merchants (who took the prize for best cocktail in 2021's festival) the Velveteen Negroni features a carrot cake-infused gin.
The full programme will be released on May 31 - head to visawoap.co.nz to see it.
