Vineyards welcome punters

Thousands revelled among the vines yesterday for the Toast Martinborough festival.

The event is known for its food, wine and music offerings spread over nine vineyard sites at Martinborough.

More than 8000 joined the festival, Toast Martinborough general manager Anna Nielson said.

‘‘It was a really great day. Everyone was really chilled.’’

An extra bus route was added this year which evenly spread punters among the vineyards.

‘‘It meant there was a steady stream of people going to and from each vineyard. There were no massive peaks or troughs, so nobody’s resources were stretched.’’

A few people had turned up to the event looking sad about Ireland beating the All Blacks, she said.

But overall, everyone had enjoyed the day.

‘‘It’s a great atmosphere. As an event organiser, I couldn’t wish for anything more.’’

The weekend in Martinborough had been a big one, and with other events on, many people were visiting the town.

The festival’s chosen charity this year is Connecting Communities Wairarapa, which is undertaking a research project called Waste Not, Want Not, to understand the extent of food hardship in Wairarapa.

A police spokeswoman confirmed there had been one arrest at the event for fighting. The person was let off with a warning.