Harvest Hawke’s Bay sold out with 2200 attendees, 53% from outside the region. Photo / Kirsten Simcox
Harvest Hawke’s Bay sold out with 2200 attendees, 53% from outside the region. Photo / Kirsten Simcox
Hawke’s Bay events calendar delivered a strong boost to local tourism over the weekend, with thousands of visitors arriving for wine, food, performances and community celebrations across the region.
Harvest Hawke’s Bay, which sold out for the first time in its three-year history, reached its capacity of 2200 people,with 53% travelling from outside the region, event manager Liz Pollock told Hawke’s Bay Today.
“We’re talking about over 1000 people who travelled into Hawke’s Bay to attend Harvest Hawke’s Bay,” she said.
“We had a designated motor home park with 120 motor homes and 250 people staying there, and they travelled from all around the country ... and that was just one small group of the people that came from other regions.
“After a tough few years, it’s great to see people travelling here again ... that’s fabulous from a regional economic impact perspective.”
Pollock said selling out 10 days before the event signalled that Harvest had cemented itself as an annual regional favourite.
“We’ll never make it bigger. Part of the charm of Harvest is that it stays intimate and relaxed. People can sit under the olive trees, enjoy amazing food and wine, and have a stress-free day out.”
The boutique food and wine festival had about 30 exhibitors including wineries, restaurants and a craft brewery, a new addition to this year’s event.
“Harvest is the Hawke’s Bay’s only region-wide wine festival. There are some great sub-regional festivals, but Harvest represents the whole region. There are wineries and restaurants from all over the greater Hastings and Napier regions. So, it is truly a region-wide celebration.”
Other events across the Bay
In Napier, the Ahuriri Christmas Festival also drew thousands on Sunday, with this year’s edition “twice as busy” as the inaugural event.
“We estimate attendance well into the thousands. The steady flow of visitors throughout the day made it clear that the festival has very quickly become a much-loved fixture on the Hawke’s Bay summer calendar,” event manager Katy Menehem said.
“Interestingly, we also saw a significant number of visitors coming from Hastings and Havelock North, which was wonderful.”
The festival promoted by Ahuriri Business Association, supported by Napier City Council, delivered a full day of seaside Christmas celebrations, with live music, entertainers, a bustling artisan market and a packed Kids Zone featuring crafts, imaginative play, Beach Santa and activities run with Pacific Surf Life Saving.
Beach Santa at the Ahuriri Christmas Festival on Sunday. Photo / Ahuriri Business Association
In Hastings, Fringe in the ’Stings, well known as a “bold” festival, drew more than 900 people to its events across four days.
Artistic director Rosheen FitzGerald said attendance was higher than expected, thanks to good weather and a packed programme.
“Our new tiered ticketing system worked really well with lots of attendees choosing the higher ‘support the artists’ price which helped offset the large number of concession tickets we sold,” FitzGerald said.
The Sexy Golf Boy event from Fringe in the ‘Stings 2025. Photo / Derek Rossiter
“Fringe in the ‘Stings is the community arts festival for everyone. Brave, bold and local, we give performers a platform to experiment and audiences an opportunity to experience something artistically adventurous at a price everyone can afford.”
