‘Thumbs up, it’s a wonderful festival’
In between Hop ‘n’ Vine events its organisers volunteer to work at other food and drink festivals throughout the country.
Kevin Downie and Chris Montgomery of Invercargill held their fifth Hop ‘n’ Vine craft beer, food and wine event in the city on Saturday, and between 1200 and 1300 people attended.
‘‘The responses have been amazing . . . it shows there’s a hunger and appetite for these events,’’ Downie said.
It was the third Hop ‘n’ Vine event the pair had organised in six months, with two at ILT Stadium Southland and the other at the Fiordland Community Events Centre in Te Anau.
The pair like to travel to other festivals to see what ideas could work at their events.
’’When you’re at other festivals you learn how to do a festival, see what works and what doesn’t,’’ Downie said.
His and Montgomery’s biggest challenge is to find ways to encourage festival-goers to buy their tickets early and not wait to the last week.
At least 600 tickets were sold in the last 48 hours leading into Saturday’s Hop ‘n’ Vine.
’’Last-minute ticket sales make it difficult to get things ready . . . we need to know [expected numbers] so we can plan,’’ Downie said.
’’We’ve got a budget and we don’t want to run out of beer at a beer festival.’’
Planning is under way for the next event, titled Oktober Beer Festival, at the Invercargill Working Men’s Club on October 9.
Data from the Hop ‘n’ Vine event in Te Anau in January showed 750 attended, of whom 560 were visitors to the town, Downie said.
He and Montgomery staged that event to help bring people to the tourist town to support businesses struggling in the absence of overseas travellers.
Stallholders on Saturday included brother and sister operators Corius and Nellie Vorster (Bush Deli) of Te Anau, and Scott Whitaker (4Mates Brew Shop) of Invercargill.
‘‘Thumbs up, it’s a wonderful festival . . . it’s very well-organised,’’ Corius Vorster said.
’’I think beer, wine, barbecued meats, fried chicken, goes well together and a bit of music.’’