Winter Food and Wine Classic tickets available

There will be plenty of treats for those taking part in this year's Winter Food and Wine Classic. Photo/File

Hawke's Bay residents will have the chance to attend one of Hawke's Bay's favourite festivals when tickets go on sale today.

Tickets for the Winter Food and Wine Classic go on sale today with the popular event planned to be bigger than last year. It will run across four weekends in June, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, between June 6 and 29.

The classic is a seasonal event series held twice a year in Hawke's Bay. The Winter Food and Wine Classic is held every June while the Summer Food and Wine Classic is every November.

There are 48 events in the 2014 Winter Food and Wine Classic programme, with about 2000 tickets available to purchase. Events range from wine tastings and themed dinners to gate to plate tours and a day at the races.

Hawke's Bay Tourism general manager Annie Dundas said the organisation was looking forward to a successful second winter series.

"We are really excited to see Winter F.A.W.C show such significant growth, nearly doubling in size from 2013.

"One of our key objectives is to increase visitor numbers in the off-seasons and we believe four weekends of Winter F.A.W.C offers many compelling reasons to visit Hawke's Bay."

Just like last year the event has attracted a host of national culinary stars who are coming to town to collaborate with Hawke's Bay talent.

Visiting stars include Martin Bosley, Simon Gault (Euro Auckland and Masterchef NZ), Ruth Pretty, Chris Green (Arbitrageur, Wellington), Michael Dearth (Baduzzi and The Grove, Auckland), Andy Deuchars (Renaissance Beer) and Richard Emerson (Emerson Brewing Company).

Dining out in Hawke's Bay will also take on a classic flavour in June with participating restaurants offering Food and Wine by 5 deals.

Menu offerings will be in multiples of $5 totalling no more than $50. Restaurants include The Farm at Cape Kidnappers, Mint, Mamacita, Mister D, and St George's Restaurant with many more to be confirmed.

Tickets and full event info at www.fawc.co.nz