The Hokitika Wildfoods Festival

8 March 2014
Hokitika

Seagull eggs, huhu beetle grubs, whitebait patties and mountain oysters are just some of the delicacies on offer to the 12,000 daring gourmets during the festival, which is held on the second Saturday in March.

Celebrating the wild food and drink of the West Coast, and the culinary creativity and originality of the locals, this unique event is unlike any other. The festival programme includes live entertainment, cooking demonstrations, a photography competition and prizes for the best-dressed festival-goers. 

The Hokitika Wildfoods Festival should be experienced at least once, so put it on your bucket list! The annual festival, which has been going for over two decades, transforms the small coastal town of Hokitika and showcases the West Coast’s bountiful land and waterways.

Hokitika is a perfect base for exploring the wild West Coast, with its friendly, welcoming locals and range of accommodation options. As well as its gourmet delights, Hokitika is known as a traditional source of pounamu (greenstone), from the Arahura River. Take a tour to see greenstone carvers at work, or visit the town’s galleries and shops specialising in jewellery made from the stone.

The West Coast is unlike anywhere else – a rugged place of awe-inspiring glaciers, dramatic rock formations and crashing waves on black sand beaches. Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers are huge tongues of ice that grind down through the rainforest to just 250 metres above sea level. Visitors can walk to the foot of the glaciers and marvel at the enormity of the valleys of ice.

The Tasman Sea pounds the 600km coastline, where fascinating natural wonders can be seen from the spectacular coastal highway. The Paparoa National Park is famous for its Pancake Rocks and Blowholes, which can be seen at high tide.

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