Gisborne Wine and Food festival announce fifth venue for 2009

In a shake-up by Gisborne Wine and Food, this year’s October 25 event will feature five venues showcasing over 25 wineries, an improved public and private bus system, and an in-town ticket swap location.

A call went out for another vineyard to join the line-up for the 2009 festival. Stone Bridge Estate was chosen from 10 applicants along with Amor-Bendall Wines, Bushmere Estate, TW Wines and a shared ‘boutique’ venue site.

Stone Bridge are looking forward to showing people what they offer at their vineyard location.
“We are really excited to welcome everyone to Stone Bridge. Preparation has begun on the site for what will be an inviting and relaxed atmosphere for people to come and visit on festival day” says Mairead Hart, co-owner of Stone Bridge.

Another announcement is that early-bird tickets will be available for this year’s festival for a restricted period starting July 1, 2009. One thousand tickets will be available over the month and promoters are predicting they will go fast this year. The early-bird tickets will cost $50 rather than the $60 normal ticket price and will only be available until the end of July. Event organisers took on comments from last year and have also organised for tickets to be transferred to their wine-glass pass at the Poverty Bay Club on the Friday and Saturday prior to the event and the morning-of. This will enable people to get their tickets prior to event day.

One of the more successful features carried over from last year was the introduction of the BUS-US concept where groups of 30 or more can book their own private bus through the festival organisers. This allows people to travel at their own pace with their own driver all day.

In addition to the festival on Sunday, the wineries are also going to be open to the public on Saturday with a selection of individual events which will include new vintage tastings, celebrity chefs and workshops. These will collectively provide a full “Wine Weekend” for Gisborne over Labour Weekend.

“We’re expecting another wonderful Gisborne festival,” says event organizer Prue Younger. “Listening to comments from last year, people will be happy with this year’s format. It’s a great time to remember how good the wines we produce in this region are and how much fun the festival is to attend.”

Tickets go on sale July 1, 2009. For more information go frequently for updates on www.gisbornewine.co.nz