Saturday, 22 February 2025, 12-6pm
Mahy Reserve, Ōhope.
The Local Wild Food Festival is one of the Eastern Bay of Plenty’s most iconic events, celebrating abundant food found in our diverse natural environment.
Showcasing food from the land, rivers, lakes and sea, the festival brings together resourceful people passionate about sustainable living. You won’t find anything too wild or whacky at our wild food festival – just good food foraged, grown, caught or hunted from our environment.
Join us for a day of wild food tastings, demonstrations, cooking challenges and live music set amongst ancient Pohutukawa, overlooking the Best Beach in Aotearoa.
Join in on the popular Mystery Box team event. Sessions will be rolling all day on the hour, each hour, with various secret ingredients hidden away until the last moment. You and your workmates, friends or whānau groups will get a chance to cook the best dish using our on site kitchens and hopefully winning something exciting from the prize table.
Registrations for the Mystery Box will open in January (keep an eye on our Whakatāne.nz socials for announcements).
Tickets on sale from 1 December
Online Sales – $15 (including booking fee)
Gate Sales – $20 (16 years and over)
Children – 15 and under free.
Join us for the best of Whakatāne district's live music scene.
Artists to be announced.
Chefs will work their culinary magic alongside the people who hunt and butcher venison or goat, pork, possum and peacock.
Sample oysters from nearby Ōhiwa Harbour and locally harvested salt, as well as honey, truffles, gin and olive oil.
Join us for our demonstrations and free tastings such as watercress and pork sausage, or shots of honey and kawakawa.
Join Stu and Dean from Gentlemen Farmers Gin for a fascinating gin demonstration, made with plants and ingredients locally sourced in Wainui.
Local legends Mata Beer will be on site with their range of beers and ciders, and non-alcoholic options. Along with Herringbone Wine, Dabblers Gin and The Comm.
Join us from midday, Saturday 22 February.
Tickets on sale from 1 December, with earlybird pricing when purchased online. Details to come.
Make the festival a weekend away and check out our top things to do while you are in town and our favourite summer activities.
We have been lucky enough to have been crowned NZ's best and most loved beach, and NZ's best large town.
A huge thank you to our partners and sponsors.
Our annual festival wouldn't be possible without this support.