Tickets for Toast still available

Ten wineries, 10 restaurants and 24 music acts are lined up for the November 15 festival - which is into its 24th year. FILE PHOTO

Toast Martinborough is just over a week away and tickets are still up for grabs.

Ten wineries, 10 restaurants and 24 music acts are lined up for the November 15 festival - which is into its 24th year.

Toast director Anna Neilson said she would be surprised if there were still tickets available after this weekend.

"If people want to come to Toast they need to grab their tickets right away," she said.

"There's a certain capacity that the event can hold and we're pretty much getting to that point."

A Times-Age article from 2010 reported that the 10,000 tickets to the 2009 Toast festival had sold out in just 13 minutes.

Mrs Neilson said she had nothing to compare the success of this year's ticket sale to, as this was her first year in the role.

But after 24 years, she said, Toast was still an annual highlight for many people.

She said the event was a "really important" contributor to the economic growth of the district.

"And this town [Martinborough] loves it and gets right in behind it."

Music would include the Warratahs, the Rodger Fox Big Band and top Wellington cover band the Noodles.

A new website was launched last weekend for Toast, which has a full list of entertainment, venues and restaurants taking part.

Even though she had landed her "dream job", Mrs Neilson said the six months she had been in it had been a learning curve.

"I think people think that running an event is really easy - especially if it's been around for 24 years.

"But consumers are more discerning and sophisticated and there's always things evolving," she said.

She said she had been keeping a close eye on the predicted forecast for the day - with fingers crossed for clear, blue skies.

However, having gone to Toast "about 10 times" in the past, Mrs Neilson said whatever weather had surfaced on the day it had never stopped her from enjoying herself.