One of New Zealand’s most popular wine, food and music festivals will be celebrating its 25th birthday this year so there is no better time to book your trip to Wellington for the annual Toast Martinborough festival. Join thousands of other people in celebrating the 25th anniversary of this iconic wine, food and music festival. This fantastic festival has continued to grow and develop each and every year and they are pulling out all the stops for their 25th anniversary including some great wines, delicious food and amazing live music.
About Toast Martinborough
Local food and wine are the order of the day at Toast Martinborough
Before we get into the details of this year’s festival, let’s talk a little bit about what Toast Martinborough is all about. The festival was set up as a celebration of the amazing local produce and producers that are part of the Martinborough area, situated about an hour north east of Wellington. The region offers up perfect growing conditions for both vines and a wide range of produce making it an ideal place to organise a wine and food festival. Each year, the festival has grown in size and attracts people from all across New Zealand who flock to Wellington and surrounding towns and villages to join in with the fun. This year’s event will be held on Sunday 20 November from 9.00am to 6.30pm (vineyards will be open from 10.00am to 4.30pm) and you are advised to purchase you ticket well in advance as they are once again expecting a sell out crowd.
What’s new at Toast Martinborough for 2016?
For their 25th anniversary, Toast Martinborough are introducing some new features which should make things easier for festival-goers. The festival has always worked on a ‘festival Francs’ payment system where you would typically purchase some of this festival currency and spend it throughout the day. This year they are going high-tech! Instead of paper Francs, your festival wristband will double up as your payment method where you will be able to buy festival Francs and they will be added electronically to your wristband. You can then spend them at any of the vineyards and food vendors at the festival throughout the day. Any unspent Francs can be refunded at one of the festival banks or online up to four weeks later making this a really smooth and cashless day!
Premium wine will be on offer at this year’s Toast Martinborough Festival
As with most festivals, you will also receive an exclusive Globelet’s premium plastic wine glass. This premium stemless wine glass is both reusable and dishwasher safe and will provide you with a great momentum of this 25th anniversary event.
There are also new vineyards partnering with this year’s festival which is exciting news for regulars and first-timers alike! Luna Estate and Murdoch James Estate will position themselves on ‘wine mile’ and will offer festival-goers the chance to sample some top-class, premium wines.
Entertainment
There will be a huge range of great live music at Toast Martinborough 2016
Entertainment is a huge part of the Toast Martinborough weekend and this year they have pulled out all the stops. The line-up stretches across all of the different vineyards at the event with a wide variety of performers moving about across the day. From the smooth soulful sounds of Courtney Neara to the rock and pop hits of the Jedi Nights and The Satisfactions, there’s something for every music taste so make sure you check through the list of performers and plan your wine tasting day around your favourite performers.
Places to stay and how to get there
The best thing about Toast Martinborough is how easy it is to get there. With buses and trains running from downtown Wellington, the Willis Wellington Hotel is a great place to stay for the weekend. Take all the hassle out of attending this amazing wine and food festival and book your transport from the capital out to Martinborough when you book your festival ticket. That way, you can make a weekend of it and do some sightseeing in Wellington on the Saturday too! We have some great deals at the Willis Wellington in November so make sure you check out our hotel page and book your weekend to Wellington today!
To find out more about the Toast Martinborough Festival, please visit their website.
*All images courtesy of Toast Martinborough