Festival revels in fabulous feijoas

AUTUMN FRUIT: Feijoabulous Festival organiser Melinda Hatherly and Briar Rawhiti-Williams, 6, show off an unusual heart-shaped conjoined feijoa.

The "people's fruit" is in such abundance at this time of the year that it's often overlooked.

But according to Sustainable Whanganui there are plenty of ways to use feijoas so they don't go to waste.

A group of about 40 turned out to sing the praises if the feijoa at the second annual Feijoabulous Festival held on Sunday.

"It's a harvest festival as much as anything," organiser Melinda Hatherly said.

"This is a way of giving people ideas about what they can do with their feijoas. It's because we have so many if them that we undervalue them. People see them everywhere, they are so easy to get. It's about valuing what we've got."

The festival consisted of feijoa-themed quizzes, recipe swaps, games, art, and competitions for the biggest, smallest and ugliest feijoas. One of the more unusual fruits was a conjoined feijoa. There was also a range of food and drinks made from the fruit, including a feijoa mint jelly and feijoa smoothies.

Sustainable Whanganui's Sandie Roach said feijoas often went to waste.

"I think a lot of them rotted over the ground over the years so we're trying to get people to use them. They're underrated. It's the people's fruit and we're really trying to raise awareness of the feijoa."

Meanwhile, the next season may not be as fruitful with the feijoa-damaging Australia guava moth expected in this part of the country.