Abundance at the Akaroa Harvest Festival!

The rain was no match for Akaroa’s great community spirit, with hundreds turning out to celebrate the Akaroa Harvest Festival last weekend. Gumboots were the footwear of choice as locals and visitors alike enjoyed a true taste of the peninsula - gourmet meats, nuts, preserves, wine and cheese and olives.

“Akaroa food businesses are nationally-renowned for quality. The Harvest Festival is really a celebration of small businesses which are big on taste and quality. It’s amazing to see the diversity, the passion and pride people have in their products. It’s a great opportunity to highlight the abundance of the Peninsula” said Akaroa District Promotions Officer, Hollie Hollander.

One of the highlights of this year’s Harvest Festival was the classic cake auction, which was put on to raise money for the Akaroa Health Hub.

Dozens of gorgeous and creative cakes were entered, with renowned chefs Peter Gordon and Richard Till competing against local chefs from Vangionis and the Akaroa Cooking School. But the winner on the day was a local perhaps better known as a butcher than a baker.

Top price (of $250) was paid for Gretchen Foster’s Akaroa Butchery cake – a decadent creation designed to look like a marbled rack of prime Angus beef. The auction was a great success and raised $2500 for the Akaroa Health Hub.

Local stall holder, Chris Moore, said that despite the weather, the event was well organised and went off incredibly well.

“Quite frankly, it didn't really matter if it was wet or fine because the community spirit shines through always - as evidenced by the Cake Auction!”

ends

© Scoop Media