Art and Culture

Future bright for mussel festival

For the past two years, the Havelock Mussel & Seafood Festival has had luck on their side, just falling outside national lockdowns. With a great summer under way, it seemed like the 2022 festival was going to go ahead again, somewhat unscathed.

Unfortunately, due to the current traffic light settings and the ongoing uncertainty around when those settings would likely change, the 2022 festival was cancelled. True to form the committee waited, hoping that the situation would get better, but the decision had to be made and the festival joined the long lineup of cancelled events. “The Organising Committee and local businesses put a lot of time and energy into getting ready for the festival, so to have to cancel it in the final lead up, it’s a decision that wasn’t made lightly. It’s pretty devastating to have to make the call, especially with only four weeks to go, but ultimately it was the right decision at the time,” says event coordinator Kara Fielding, from Elevated Events. With lots of people still traveling through the region, the Organising Committee will be looking to work with local businesses to ensure that there is still something for visitors and locals around the time of the festival, supporting local businesses and showcasing local seafood delicacies. Next year's date has already been announced, and Kiwi legends Jordan Luck Band and celebrity chef Simon Gault are scheduled to take centre stage on Saturday the 11th of March, with more live entertainment to be announced.

Attendees can expect all the festival favourites to be back, such as the MFA Industry Tent, the NZ King Salmon Culinary Tent, the NIWA KidsZone, competitions and of course another crack at the Guinness World Record attempt for mussel opening. With over 40 stallholders, the festival will look to show case the regions finest products, with a selection of local fresh seafood on offer. Stallholder applications will open the 20th of September. The “2023 NMIT Festival Chef” community cooking competition will have its chance to finally debut at next year’s festival. The festival has partnered with local Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) to create a master chef style cooking competition, to be judged by none other than Simon Gault himself and NMIT’s Chris Fortune. For those with passion and talent, this cooking competition will be open to all ages and abilities with the focus on creating a Kai Moana dish that highlights NZ King Salmon and/or NZ Green shell Mussels.

Since 2004, the Havelock Mussel & Seafood Festival has been a vital part of the Marlborough Summer Events calendar, and has received huge support from local businesses and also industry. Due to the considerable amount of support, the festival has been able to grow over the years to showcase other locally produced seafood and bring some great Kiwi acts to the Havelock stage including The Black Seeds and Tiki Taane. “Some of our supporters have been along the journey with us since the beginning and have been essential to the success of the event and our ability to give back to the local community. We are so grateful for their continued support, as we begin to look forward and start planning the 2023 festival,” says Kara. The Havelock Mussel & Seafood Festival is a not-forprofit event and has given back over $300,000 to the local community to various organisations through the years, and will look to do so again in 2023 through their grant process. The 2023 event is shaping up to be another great day and it will be one to mark on the calendar early. For those out of the region, it’s encouraged to book accommodation in advance and spend a couple extra days in the region, enjoying some of Marlborough’s finest.

Tickets for the 2023 festival go on sale 1 November 2022. havelockmusselfestival.co.nz