Sadly, the Bluff Oyster and Food Festival that was to be held on 20 May 2023 has been postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. We are disappointed and greatly saddened that we cannot host the event. After a tumultuous two years we had hoped to hold the iconic festival and will now be looking forward to making the 2024 event bigger and better.
This decision has not been made lightly and revolves around the health and safety concerns of our volunteers and patrons. Since hosting the last event in 2021 the Club Hotel adjoining our site has been declared a Dangerous Building.
In light of an engineer’s report we provided to Invercargill City Council, the Dangerous and Insanitary Building Notice was issued requiring demolition by 16 March 2023. We were confident we could achieve that and have the current site ready for the 2023 event. Our demolition contractor submitted a resource consent application. Unfortunately, Invercargill City Council amended their previous notice and the process now required will mean the dangerous Club Hotel will still be looming over the site in May 2023.
The event is volunteer run and brings many promotional and financial benefits to the region yet we feel it would be inappropriate and impractical to invite 4000 visitors to celebrate in the shadow of the Club Hotel given the Dangerous Building Notice.