Record crowd of 22,466 for Wildfoods Festival

Record crowd of 22,466 for Wildfoods Festival

The Hokitika Wildfoods Festival last weekend attracted a record crowd of 22,466, organiser Mike Keenan confirmed today. The festival has grown rapidly in popularity in recent years, more so this year as a result of interest in the Fear Factor television programme which includes eating insects and other daring food difficult to stomach.

Last Saturday’s festival sold grasshoppers, worms, slugs, snails, sheep’s eyes, huhu grubs, bull’s penis sausages and sheep’s testicles as well as whitebait, wild game meat and other tasty food.

Mr Keenan said the festival attendance was up 1803 on last year. ``In my 11 years as festival organiser, a crowd of 15,000 people would be manageable,’’ he said today.

The Westland District Council has commissioned a strategic report to consider the ideal size, theme and shape of the festival for the next five years. The report will be available in July.

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