Last of the Summer Wine festival fun
It might not have been the balmy autumn day that the organisers had hoped for, but a bit of a breeze and the odd shower did absolutely nothing to dampen Saturday’s Last of the Summer Wine Festival at Mangonui.
The more than 5000 people who gathered on the waterfront had 120 stalls to patronise, while musicians entertained from one end to the other.
They included Honeymoon Valley 10 year old Annamarie Jakicevich, who was putting her violin to good use, raising money to help fund her musical journey.
Vineyards were once again well represented — with competition from Bay of Islands Limoncello — but the festival was a gourmand’s delight, with offerings ranging from paella, pa¯ua pockets, raw fish, Wild West Worcester sauce and South Island whitebait to genuine German sausages and ma¯nuka honey, all washed down with lashings of beer from around the world.
The less than onerous job of maintaining law and order fell to local constable Brett Walford, who, thanks to nationally heightened security concerns had a pistol on his hip, while others were busy raising money for their own causes.
They included Margaret Tolladay, unmissable in her Hospice outfit and an extraordinary pair of glasses.
“I can’t see a thing,” she said. “If I fall over Hospice will have to pay.”
As far as is known she didn’t. Fall over.
See Tuesday’s
Age
for more.