MEDIA RELEASE | 22 August 2016

Pohangina ‘Wild Food Feast’ - Baa’d to the Bone!

Each year in late August, the hall at Camp Rangi Woods in the Pohangina Valley’s picturesque Totara Reserve gets transformed into a wild-dining extravaganza like no other.

A flock of Awahou School parents roll up their sleeves and muck-in to stage the world-famous-in-the-Manawatu annual ‘Wild Food Feast’. This year, the gang have trucked in from the Waikato a unique after-dinner comedian to give feast-goers their sheep thrills. It’s none other than the Kiwi ‘Crocodile Dundee’ of wool, natural fibre-severer technician extraordinaire and sheep whisperer – Billy Black the Woolman.

Billy (aka Barry Woods of Woodlyn Park near Waitomo), is New Zealand’s unofficial ambassador of the wool industry. He’s a bit of a dag, taking his special breed of humour and shearing-styled comedy on the road across the globe. A regular at A&P shows around the country and the recent Raglan premiere of Hunt for the Wilderpeople, he’s also known for his all-black hog, ‘Jona’ the kunekune, that rides shotgun on his hog motorbike with him.

The sell-out Wild Food Feast is now in its sixth year running and is the main fundraiser for Pohangina Valley’s Awahou School. Featuring a 3-course wild food dinner and wild-foraged themed sides, diners are also treated to a fundraising auction where locally-sourced goods, including everything from truckloads of donated shingle through to guided hunting trips, are avidly bid upon as feast-goers vie for the best baa-rgain.

“Our parent whanau are awesome,” says principal (and MC for the night) Matt Schmidt. “This will be my first Wild Food Feast since joining the school and I’m amazed at how the team just crack on and mount this massive event for 130 diners in their spare time.” He acknowledges the incredible support local businesses and community figures extend to the school via their donations to the fundraising auction. “We are humbled by how so many are willing to give items to our cause. We’ve even had the Olympic All Black 7’s team come to the party. Just before they jetted off to Rio the boys all signed a jersey for us to sell on the night. A little piece of sporting history right there.”

Tickets for the event sold out ‘in two shakes of a lamb's tail’ and all funds raised on the night will go towards funding additional teaching hours and education resources at the 38-student Awahou School.

ENDS

Event website/facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/The-Wild-Food-Feast-125187704481938/

For further information about Billy Black the Woolman and his travelling show visit http://www.billyblack.co.nz

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