A record number of food and wine stalls together with more focus on family will be greet those attending this year’s PBT (Peter Baker Transport) Gibbston Harvest Festival.
Not only has the diversity of wine and food grown, the children’s area is growing too with new games, activities and other treats for young festival goers, Gibbston Community Association Chairman Susan Stevens said.
“We’re very excited to be running the children’s area this year. Many of our young families are volunteering at the games and activities, so it will be a fun day for our community as well as those attending the festival.”
The Gibbston Harvest Festival was first held in March 2006 at the initiative of a small group of Gibbston based wineries, including Gibbston Valley Wines, Mount Edward, Mt. Rosa, Peregrine, and Valli Wines.
Although the same small group is organising the 2007 festival, the number of wine producers participating has grown from 13 to 16. Considering that participation is limited to wineries with vineyards in the Gibbston sub-region, the rapid growth is a real bonus for the festival.
“I always knew that Gibbston would one day be filled with vines, but I didn’t expect to see it in my lifetime. We are a geographically unique sub-region of Central in that we’re surrounded by mountains and our boundaries are very clearly defined, which has given us a unique identity as a wine community,” festival committee member and founder of Gibbston Valley Wines, Alan Brady said.
The 2007 festival had also attracted some exciting new sponsorship.
“We’re very happy that Peter Baker Transport has come on board as our primary sponsor. Their financial support means that we can keep the ticket prices at $10 so the festival is affordable for families, while still raising what we hope will be a significant amount of money for the Bruce Grant Youth Trust,”
Greg Hay, festival committee member and Sales and Marketing Director for Peregrine Wines, said.
Each year a local charity is selected to receive the proceeds from ticket sales. The inaugural festival in 2006 was well supported and the group raised just under $10,000 for the first charity recipient the Wakatipu Junior Footie Club.
In addition to organising the children’s area, the community association sells the festival wineglasses, as well as, raffle and grape tasting tickets to raise money for the Gibbston River Trail, the 8-km walking and mountain biking trail to be formed along the Kawarau River from the Kawarau Bungy bridge to Waitiri Creek Wines.
“Last year we raised a little over $1,900 at the festival. This year we are hoping to raise more. We’re lucky to have TrustPower, Gibbston Valley Properties, and Magic Memories sponsoring some of the activities. That reduces our costs and allows us to provide some great games at great prices”, said Ms Stevens.
Tickets are available at In Touch Visitor Centre, Queenstown - cnr Shotover and Camp Streets, and online at Gibbston Valley Wines website at http://www.gvwines.co.nz.
