Local Focus: Marton Harvest Festival a weekend to celebrate

Last weekend was harvest time and Marton celebrated. The Marton Harvest Fair attracted stalls, performers and competition entrants from far and wide.

The fair has quickly grown in less than a decade, from a crowd of just a few hundred to 12 thousand visitors, thanks largely to the team of volunteers working behind the scenes to pull it all together.

"It's growing each year," said volunteer Paul Czepanski. "It's getting really good and we're trying to collaborate a lot of other stuff as well. I think what makes a good show is having a variety of different things that interests different people."

With almost 200 stalls and a variety of activities and competitions, the fair attracts people from as far away as Australia.

Unsurprisingly, one of the most popular events is the home-brew competition. Marton malts the barley for most of the beer produced in NZ.

Local resident, David Wilson was one of the lucky judges and was enthusiastic about an Imperial Stout.

"It'll be richer in flavour, it will have a higher alcohol content with some chocolate notes or coffee flavours."

The home-brew competition had an impressive 75 entries from around the country and this year was won by a Whanganui stout.

Marton's Harvest Fair wouldn't be complete without the scarecrow competition featuring many creative and genuinely scary scarecrows.

The fair even made a competition out of impending nuptials. The winning couple scoring a honeymoon in the exotic Rangitikei. A happy ending for this couple and for the harvest fair.

Made with funding from