Our Flavours of Plenty Festival team has collected two titles at the annual NZ Events Association Awards – Best Lifestyle Event and Best Local Government Event*!

After bravely launching our regional foodie festival last year, during difficult COVID times, we never in our wildest dreams expected our second festival would win two national accolades.

These wins encapsulate the passion, talent, and hard work that every one of our festival partners put into this year’s event.

The NZEA Awards judges noted: “The festival stood out because it not only connected the culinary ecosystem, it provided an opportunity for education and employment and connected producers to plate, elevating the Bay’s people, produce, plates and place to the benefit of the entire region.

“Collaboration was truly at the core of the festival, with an emphasis on relationship management of the many stakeholders who put on a number of creative events that encouraged collaboration and participation.”

Our talented festival team, consisting of Loretta Crawford, Rae Baker, Suzy Spear, and Stacey Jones, is pictured.

We couldn’t have delivered this festival without our sponsors and supporters – TECT, Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Tauranga City Council, Whakatāne District Council, BayTrust, Craigs Investment Partners, and Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology – thank you all!

The Flavours of Plenty Festival is just what our hospitality sector has needed, and we’re grateful that so many of our best eateries and innovative food and beverage producers have embraced the vision and seized the opportunity to be part of it.

As we take a moment to celebrate these stunning award wins, we’re also looking forward to our next festival. Make sure you mark 4-14 April in your 2024 calendars because now you really know that you won’t want to miss out! The 2024 programme and tickets will be released in February.

* We shared the Best Local Government Event Award with co-winners Hilma af Klint: The Secret Paintings, City Gallery Wellington – part of Experience Wellington.