Public wedding a new feature for Marton's harvest festival

(From left) Murray Robinson, Dave Wilson and Brendon Showbridge judged the home brew at last year's Marton Harvest Festival. Photo file / Lin Ferguson

The winners have been chosen from among 50 couples competing for a full-on wedding and honeymoon package in Rangitīkei - starting with a wedding at Marton Harvest Festival on March 31.

Project Marton's "Elope to the Country" competition had co-ordinator Cath Ash's phone running hot for two weeks, she said.

There were entrants from Invercargill to Australia and each couple had to provide their unique love story, say why they want to "elope to the country" and upload a video to introduce themselves.

Their story triggered both tears and laughter in the judges, and it was hard to decide on the winners.

They are Francis Leppard and Ayden Palmer, who live in Tokomaru, a little town 20km from Palmerston North in the Horowhenua District.

They were in absolute shock when they learned they had won, Ash said. The Project Marton committee met them and their two "delightful" children on March 2.

The bride will get help with her hair and face before the 2pm wedding, which will happen during the popular outdoor festival in Marton Park. Then photographs will be taken while the fair is packed away and the couple get a catered wedding reception with bluegrass band Winsome Lost.

Their six-day honeymoon begins at Maungaraupi Country Estate on wedding night, then moves to River Valley Lodge for some harmony horsemanship, Tarata Fishaway Lodge for rafting, Awastone for fly fishing, Rangitīkei Farmstay for claybird shooting and finally the Colonial Tiny House Airbnb in Onepuhi Rd.

Weddings have been a traditional feature of harvest festivals, Ash said, and she has long wanted to add one to the annual event in Marton. This year her committee agreed and she got help from a wide range of businesses.

It's another aspect to a popular day out that will be in its eighth year. The festival runs from 10am to 4pm on March 31, at Marton Park in Follett St.

It has more stalls than usual this year - 180 - and celebrity chef Simon Gault will judge the hotly contested pumpkin pie competition.

There will also be a competition for the heaviest, best dressed and ugliest pumpkins, a home brew competition with the prize a trip to Good George Brewing in Hamilton and music from bluegrass band The Tinsel Town Paupers.

"It's all about celebrating heritage and connections with the early years, and there will be a really good display of vintage, including traction engines," Ash said.