Seafest canned after 23-year run
Kaiko¯ ura’s famous seafood festival is no more.
A lack of volunteers and resources, and an over consumption of alcohol by festival goers, have taken their toll on the annual festival, which had evolved from a small local gathering to a nationally recognised event over the past 23 years.
The annual October event, featuring music, cuisine and ‘‘a very strong festival atmosphere’’ grew in popularity early on, attracting costume-clad punters from across New Zealand.
Kaiko¯ ura Information and Tourism Incorporated (KITI) chairwoman Julie Howden said although Seafest had enhanced the region’s reputation as a great seafood destination the decision was made not to run the festival again.
‘‘A shrinking volunteer base, increasing costs with decreasing profitability, and the social implications of increasing alcohol consumption leads us to reach this difficult decision,’’ she said.
At its peak, Seafest attracted close to 6000 revellers, about double the town’s population in its early days, with tickets even being scalped online for twice their retail value.
And although numbers had waned, extra police were still drafted in from outside the region every year to deal with the festival’s aftermath.
In 2016, 4000 people flooded into town, with 28 arrests, mainly for minor offences such as disorderly and offensive behaviour, but alcohol was a factor in every arrest.
Thirteen people were caught drink-driving that weekend.
Kaiko¯ ura Mayor Winston Gray said the damage to town and the event’s liability and risk had become too difficult to manage.
‘‘Last year a lot of people arrived on site preloaded [with alcohol] and these are issues that fall on the responsibility of the licence holder once they come in the gate.
‘‘Its success was one of the issues – it’s been so successful,’’ he said.
But Seafest was a great event and would leave a gap to be filled by something else, Gray said.
‘‘It was a challenge to keep it affordable and make money at the same time.
‘‘There was a small workforce who did the bulk of the work and that became quite challenging.’’
Howden said the KITI board had reviewed its marketing and promotion activities to plan effectively for the future, and this included an evaluation of Kaiko¯ ura Seafest.
‘‘The decision has not been made lightly and we are very appreciative of the dedication from regular event attendees over the years.’’
After the magnitude-7.8 earthquake in 2016, last year’s Seafest nearly did not go ahead.
Event organiser Sheena Hamilton said they considered cancelling at the time, mainly because the access roads were not completely repaired and some accommodation was out of action. It had also been hard to find sufficient volunteers.
Despite a rain-soaked day, a sell-out crowd flooded in to support the cut-off and quake-damaged town. For the first time in a year Kaiko¯ ura’s accommodation operators reported full houses, with campgrounds and backpackers full to the brim, in what was to be Kaiko¯ ura Seafest’s last year.
Destination Kaiko¯ ura general manager Glenn Ormsby said Seafest had been a major economic event for Kaiko¯ ura and it was encouraging that, despite a lot of rain during last year’s festival, it still managed to attract 4000 people and the event had been a success.
Over the many years it had been operating, Kaiko¯ ura Seafest raised the profile and popularity of Kaiko¯ ura as a destination. The event was held in spring boosting off-peak tourism before the main visitor season kicked into gear.
Howden said after the earthquake it was timely for the board to review all aspects of KITI’s operation, including Kaiko¯ ura’s signature Seafest event.
‘‘The event required a significant amount of resourcing from a small team and volunteer base.
‘‘When we looked at plans moving forward, the board felt it was the right time to re-evaluate the festival.’’
Howden said the event’s success was down to the passion, commitment and support of festival organisers and volunteer groups, who could take pride in the festival becoming such a major event.