Fiesta festivities on track

FIRST LIGHT KAI: Kyllie and Metua McClutchie at the last Street Food Festival put on by Heart of Gisborne in January. File picture by Rebecca Grunwell

WITH 30 food vendors booked and bands confirmed the Fiesta Street Food Festival will provide a lively Mexican-themed family-friendly event in Gisborne’s CBD this Labour Weekend.

“The theme is important because it sets the scene and the vibe of the event,” said Heart of Gisborne’s Lana Davy.

The Fiesta will take place in Grey Street and will offer plenty of outdoor seating including picnic tables and bean bags so people can settle in for an evening of music and affordable international food.

A wide variety of cuisines from crepes to Japanese dumplings will be offered, with seafood tacos, BBQ ribs and mussel fritters a few other options.

“Fiesta is a family-friendly event with the emphasis on food and showing what an incredible cultural diversity our city has. All vendors are local and this time around we have asked them to keep with our $5-$7 price point.”

There is a designated children’s play area with a bouncy castle, face painting and other activities, and a licensed bar for the adults so they can enjoy a drink while keeping an eye on the kids.

The Steve Kingi Band, Honey Jam, Son & Rise (formerly One Point Five Men) and Beach Road will keep the crowd entertained.

The festival is expected to attract between 5000-8000 people, and Ms Davy is confident they will not be disappointed. She hopes it will be just as popular as the First Light Kai street food festival earlier in the year.

“We have had so much support for Fiesta after such a successful last event. We have had so many people interested in holding stalls and wish we could have them all.

“We wanted to have more options for food and we think we have definitely achieved that this time around.”