Whanganui's On The Rocks attracting boutique distilleries from throughout Aotearoa

Majestic Square will be filled with spirit connoisseurs on October 23. Photo / Supplied

Boutique distillery festival On The Rocks is set to be held in October, a year and a half after its scheduled date.

Organiser Gioia Damosso, of Lost Art Events, said the outbreak of Covid-19 last year had caused everything to go "a bit skew-whiff" in terms of event planning, but she was confident this year's summer season would go off without a hitch.

"We're looking at it like 'everything is just going to be sweet', that's our mentality," Damosso said.

"I don't think we'll be dealing with the same uncertainty as last year."

On The Rocks will fall on the same date as last year's Taste Whanganui event - October 23.

"The reason we ended up calling that Taste Whanganui was because things got so messed up with popping in and out of alert levels," she said.

"We lost a lot of stallholders and we weren't really sure what was happening. It wasn't a focused event, with just beer, just spirits, or just wine - it was a bit of a mish-mash of what we could actually get together.

"That was about having a fun event and celebrating the fact that we made it out of lockdown and could actually host an event."

However, On The Rocks will be a focused event.

"Taste Whanganui is really the brand that we [Lost Art Events] deliver food and beverage events from, and that's what is bringing On The Rocks back," Damosso said.

"There'll be distilleries from around the country, plus Tahu Gin from right here in Whanganui.

"We've got Juno Gin, LWF Distillery and Copperhead Road from Rotorua who do vodka.

"These are just the first announcements, there'll be more as the months go past."

Damosso said local food trucks would also be on site, along with a full lineup of bands throughout the day.

"When we do our food and beverage festivals we try and make sure each band is doing something different.

"We've already booked Hot Potato from Whanganui, who are always a good time, and there will be some covers acts as well.

"It's music to get people up and dancing, to add to the festive vibe."

While still a threat, Covid-19 shouldn't be such a disruption this time around, Damosso said.

"With our government's response, even if something did flare up I think it would get stamped on quite quickly.

"From an events perspective, we feel confident moving into this summer.

"I don't think we'll be dealing with the same things as last year. That goes for events, businesses, everyone.

"We are feeling really confident, and hopefully this event will lift everyone out of winter and we can celebrate moving into the nice, warm weather."

On The Rocks will be held at Majestic Square on October 23. The event is R18 and runs from 1pm to 6pm.

Earlybird tickets go on sale this week.