Rain worry for Kāwhia fest

The combined music movement and food festival planned for Kāwhia on Saturday faces a damp start with breezy and showery weather forecast for the event.

But this Saturday’s expected weather is not on the same scale as Cyclone Gabrielle, which forced the cancellation of last year’s event.

The Move Your Tinana Kāwhia Food Festival replaces the kai fest, which was cancelled by its organising committee in September 2022.

The focus of the new event was on music and movement, rangatahi and families doing things together, organiser Nin Dugan said.

Stalls would sell products that supported fitness health and wellbeing and kai that reflected healthy options, but the focus was not on food but on movement, she said.

“It’s not a concert, not a kai festival. It’s getting a small community up and active using the facilities that already exist,” Nin said.

“It is about movement and choices.”

The problem with well-being issues was they were linked to availability and affordability. Being a small, isolated community, Kāwhia needed to celebrate that what they were doing was okay, Nin said.

“The larger society influences what exercise looks like; it isn’t necessarily what it looks like in Kāwhia.”

The event will be held within the boundaries of a road closure from the Kawhia Community Hall and up past the fish’n chip shop.

“This festival is intended to showcase ways in which we can all move our body in ways that we know and love,” Nin said.

“Not everything is for everyone but there will be something that you might find that you can include in your daily, everyday routine.

“The purpose is to introduce Kāwhia to music and movement that they know and love, and it’s okay to move in ways that suit them and that the activities we do put there on the day are intended to be long term, not a one-dayer.”

There will be free music with DJ Toni, and movement through fun activities suitable for all levels of fitness.

Stall holders are expected to include vendors offering rongoā Māori, mirimiri massage, veggie growers, ice cream, coffee, barbecue, hangi, beauty treatments, active wear and more.

The original Kai Fest, held annually since 2004, was the largest and one of the few events held annually in the Ōtorohanga district.

It attracted visitors to Kāwhia and to the district itself – well over 5000 on most occasions.

It was a casualty of Covid and rising costs. The organising committee found it was no longer able to absorb substantial increases in the cost of traffic/crowd control, temporary toilet facilities, refuse collection and fuel, along with the pressures of attracting sponsorships and stall holders – all major contributors to the cost of organising such a large event where entry was by gold coin donation.

Also, increasing restrictions and requirements by health officials meant the original core offerings of traditional Māori kai such as dried shark, dried pipi, along with the many other preserved kai including the pirau corn were no longer possible – which took away the whole theme of traditional food.

In March 2020 NZ borders were closed to international visitors until 2022, which drastically cut international visitors.

The 2021 event avoided Covid lockdowns, but pandemic concerns created additional work.

The 2022 event was cancelled because of a Covid lockdown.

Nin is the project manager of GOFit That’s Us expo in Te Awamutu with a similar purpose. It is very successful and in its fifth year, she said.

She also recently project managed the Xtreme Hip Hop Central Aoteroa Tour which hosted the creator Phillip Weeden from the US in four venues across New Zealand.

The festival runs from 9am to 4pm at the Omimiti Reserve, Kāwhia.