More than just a festival.
Embark on a journey full of delicious surprises and vibrant melodies at this year’s Whitianga Oceans Festival. It’s not just about the food and drinks; it’s about creating unforgettable memories. But what many don’t know is that the festival is a community owned and run event that has a strong focus on sustainability and the environment.
The festival emerged in 2005 as the Whitianga Scallop Festival and has undergone a slight name change to recognise the state of the Coromandel seabed and the MPI closure placed on Coromandel Scallops.
A name change didn’t stop the festival maintaining its key characteristics including fundraising opportunities for community groups alongside providing a range of sustainably caught seafood. The festival not only creates an amazing vibe within the town for the weekend but supports the wider local Mercury Bay community.
The area known as ‘Eat Street’ serves up a great fundraising opportunity for our non-for-profit organisations, including the Whitianga Lions, Mercury Bay Area School and Te Tiihi Nui Trust, with the chance to fundraise through serving up some tasty Coromandel seafood dishes.
The event is also a ‘taste of the Coromandel’ and provides a platform for local food producers to showcase their products as well as shops and eateries in the greater region to be open and enjoying the extra trade and exposure to the attendees from out of the region that the event brings.
Looking after our big blue backyard.
The event has always had a big focus on ensuring that it runs as sustainably as possible with the following initiatives: 95% of our seafood dishes on offer are harvested in a local, sustainable way – from local line caught snapper, to mussels and oysters from local Coromandel farms, alongside Kina sourced from local divers.
The festival has seen a collaboration over the years formed with LegaSea and Kōparepare wines. This has allowed the festival to showcase a wider, national environmental factor. 2023 saw a great year for this collaboration, with $10,000 raised for LegaSea through Kōparepare wine sales over the week and during the festival. This money went towards protection and restoration of New Zealand’s marine environment – ‘Together restoring our Oceans’. LegaSea were on site processing and filleting all our line caught fish, demonstrating to festival goers how all parts of the fish can be utilised.
LegaSea also bring a waste component to the festival, with all the festival’s empty beer cans being crushed and taken from the festival.
These are utilised for their fundraising efforts via Cans for Kai programme, promoting the value of recycling and supporting a sustainable circular economy model.
Our sustainability efforts have not gone unnoticed, with the festival being named a finalist in the Best Sustainability Initiative 2024 category in the 2024 New Zealand Event Awards!
Yes, we look a little different than when we started, as we have morphed and adapted to the changing times; but we have always stayed true to our values, creating an unforgettable experience for festival goers. It’s more than just a food and wine festival, it’s about creating a sustainable, community event and celebrating Coromandel goodness.
It’s time to grab your mates and make a day of it.
Whitianga Oceans Festival Sept 14th.
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