Wildfoods Festival 2023

The Wildfoods Festival was started in 1990 by Hokitika local Claire Bryant , a producer of gorse-flower and rose-petal wine, who wanted to celebrate the flavours and produce of the West Coast. The first festival in March 1990 coincided with Hokitika’s 125th anniversary and was run by Heritage Hokitika, attracting a crowd of 1800 with renowned New Zealand cook Alison Holst as a culinary judge.

The second attracted 2000, the third, almost 4000, and the crowd continued to be enthused and to grow annually. The 11th Wildfoods Festival in in 2000 attracted 16,000.Now the rest of the world has been entranced by the magical idea of a wild foods festival in a real Wild West region of New Zealand. People from all over the world now make their way to the West Coast of New Zealand to be a part of this thrilling event.