Foodies flock to Katikati festival

The crowd was pumped and danced away most of the afternoon.

Organisers of the annual Katikati Avocado, Food and Wine Festival say they are thrilled with the crowd turnout and promise next year's festival will be "bigger and better".

The 19th anniversary of the festival, held at the Uretara Domain on Saturday, drew a crowd of about 4000 people.

Jacqui Knight from Katch Katikati said the event, originally set up by the local Lions Club, aimed to raise much-needed funds for different charities and organisations.

This year's proceeds would go to Katikati College to help pay for some equipment for the college's new technology suite, she said.

Ms Knight said from its humble beginnings the festival had grown to include a large number of stallholders, local vineyards and breweries.

Apart from the food and wine, the lineup of regular acts had also become a major drawcard.
That included crowd favourites Kokomo and The BeatGirls, who kept people on their feet dancing, she said.

"It was a great day. It was extremely hot, maybe too hot, but the atmosphere was really relaxing and everyone was having fun.

"It's a fabulous family day out," Ms Knight said.

Crowd numbers were definitely up on last year's festival and the previous couple of years.

An estimated 4000 people came through the gates, she said.

"We're really thrilled. Three or four of our regular entertainers have already confirmed they will come back next year, which is fantastic."

Ms Knight said she and the other organisers would be holding a meeting tomorrow to start planning next year's festival, which would be the 20th anniversary of the event.