New festival to feature big line up of talent at Caroline Bay

A new one-day festival celebrating food, drink and music has been announced for Timaru’s Caroline Bay in 2021.

The Feastival, to be held on March 13, is expected to include more than 40 food and beverage vendors, six hours of music, a children’s play area and a silent DJ, with a similar event being held in Hanmer Springs on March 27.

Event director Simon Carter said he was excited about the Timaru festival, following the success of the Masters Games held in South Canterbury in October, which he also organised.

“We’ve been working with Venture Timaru and we’re really, really excited,’’ he said.

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Artists already confirmed in the line up include Jason Kerrison, Waimate’s Kaylee Bell, Sweet Mix Kids, City Limits and The InCrowd, with the headline act expected to be announced later this week, Carter said.

There would also be three DJs announced for the silent disco, he said.

Carter said he hoped the festival would appeal to tourists following Covid-19.

He could not yet say which food and beverage vendors would attend, and said he expected a statement to be released later this week with more detail.

“What I can say is, it will be a day designed for the whole family.

“Some people are able to offload their children to the grandparents and go to events, while for others that’s not an option, and they want to be able to take their children. We wanted it to be a day where people can make a day of it – with friends or with family.’’

He said the festival would be a “really eclectic mix of flavours – music and food’’, with the music lineup not restricted to one particular genre.

Venture Timaru operations manager Di Hay said the organisation would be supporting The Feastival through funding allocated to regional tourism organisations around the country to help domestic tourism.

Hay said some of this funding would come from the Government’s Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme (Stapp) and the Regional Events Fund, which the organisation is finalising its application for.

‘’We’re thrilled to be welcoming Feastival next year to Caroline Bay and hoping to attract heaps of locals and visitors from the wider region too,’’ Hay said.

“Feastival will be a great addition to our events line up, with a mix of music, food and family entertainment. We’re really lucky to be able to secure this event for Timaru.’’

Pre-sale tickets will be available from December 1.