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The Wildfoods Festial, held in Hokitika every year is the brain child of Claire Bryant, a native known for the excellently stock of locally brewed wines. With a desire to promote the cuisine of the west coast, popularly known as Wildfood, she enlisted the help of other locals. Soon the dream caught on and the Wildfood Fesival soon started to draw huge number of participants and guests as well. The festival was first held in March 1990 which was also the 125th anniversary of founding Hokitika City. The Wildfoods Festival soon reached huge proportions, has gained the entire nation's exhortation and the festival is iconic of New Zealand's national character. Newer stalls and wild innovative dishes are being added every year. Fish eyes and venison tongue, cicada and pistachio ice-cream to name a few are among the various fantastic foods one can encounter here. The festival has an average footfall of 17000 every year but crowd has even been as huge as 22500 one year. The Wildwood Festival has been the recipient of the Most Unique Event in New Zealand in 1996 and has twice won the New Zealand Tourism Awards Constantly entertained by bands and comedians, mime artists and stilt walkers, solo musicians and dancers, the crowd that enters the festival grounds is fed a meal of constant euphoria and the colorful settings bring a smile to every face. Tourists from across the globe make a beeline for this small township to attend this festival. The organization of the Wildwood festival is now looked into by the District Council and the profits are spent on public facilities. The Wildfoods festival has thus provided New Zealand tourism and enormous boost. In 2007, the Wildfoods Festival is scheduled to be held on March 10th 2007 at Cass Square, Weld Street, Hokitika, West Coast.
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