Huge Response From Vendors For Multicultural Food Festival

Flavours from every continent are being showcased at the Southland Multicultural Food Festival this weekend.

After putting the call out recently for some fresh new flavours, the team managed to increase the number of food stalls from 55 to 69.

“The event planning has gone super well - as a small trust with only three staff there's always a lot to do so we're busy bees at SMT,” events co-ordinator Danielle Carson said.

Held at Stadium Southland on International Race Relations Day, the festival will feature a range of foods from people’s home kitchens and businesses - recipes passed on through families.

The Southland Multicultural Trust attracts about 15,000 people to its event each year, showcasing a huge selection of international and local cuisine.

“It's always a pleasure learning about a new kai and getting to know more of our migrant community on a face-to-face level. We are super excited to see Southland turn up this Saturday - gold coin in hand,” Danielle said.

Describing it as a ‘mini-stadium take over,’ the food festival will take up seven courts at the stadium and the reception area on Saturday.

Now in its 18th year, the event started in someone’s lounge before moving to the school hall at James Hargest College, and quickly grew to the huge event it is today.