MEDIA RELEASE
18 MAY 2009

Oyster Festival A Treat In Store

It is one of Southland's most popular events and again in 2009 tickets to this Saturday's Bluff Oyster & Food Festival are hot property!

The Bluff Oyster will be piped into the venue just after 11am on Saturday (23 May) and the official opening will take place on the outdoor stage a few minutes later leading into a day of great food, competitions and entertainment.

There will be 14 food stalls on site with a varied selection of tasty treats. The iconic Bluff Oyster will be the most highly sought after - it will be available natural, battered or chinese fried. However there is more - much more - with squid rings, prawns, mussels, paua sausages, oyster pies, muttonbird heart stew, seafood chowder, scallops and Blue Cod also available in abundance.

A well stocked bar area awaits to complement the delicious food selection while there is coffee, tea and hot chocolate along with a good supply of Stewart Island water.

The entertainment programme is just as varied as the food selection. The Kayes Bakery Creativity Awards are a popular part of the programme with two well supported sections - the Bluff Oyster Sack Fashion and Foveaux Fantasy. The creations will be on stage from 1pm. Good prizemoney is up for grabs for the winning designer while the Supreme Creativity Award is presented to the overall winner from all categories.

The traditional Oyster Opening Championships will see old rivals Keith Lovett and Keith Dawson fending off the challenges of much younger competitors in the Open events while there are also classes for Veterans, Women, Celebrities and Blindfolded Openers, together with a mussel flipping event.

Teams of three highly skilled openers compete for the prized W.E. Johnson Memorial Shield in the factory relay event. This trophy honours the late Bill, "Two Ton", Johnson, one of the great names in the Bluff Oyster industry. Current holders, Direct Fish and Oyster Company, headed by Mr Johnson's grandson, Willie Calder, will face stern competition from rival factories.

The Oyster Eating Competition has drawn an all-star field in the celebrity section which will include a surprise or two! Prominent sportspeople, politicians and local identities will take part while others will be selected from the audience.

A fantastic line-up of local entertainment will also appear during the day. On the outdoor stage the Bluff Community School Kapa Haka Group performs immediately after the opening while Darcy Kerr and Contraband, K.G.P, Lipstick, Room To Move, Big Kitchen, Rhythmonix and Left Or Right will keep things rocking throughout the day. Inside, in addition to the Creativity Awards and the Oyster events, the Bluff Drama Club and a Cook Island Dance Group will take to the stage.

The Festival will take place at the Real Journeys site on Foreshore Road adjacent to the Old Town Wharf in Bluff. Tickets for the event are selling fast at $15 each while tickets for children 12 & under will sell at $5 each. A $3 booking fee applies to transactions.

Tickets are available from the Invercargill City Council Booking Office in Esk Street, Invercargill, the Bluff Service Centre, Gore Street, Bluff and www.ticketdirect.co.nz . Bookings can also be made by phone at 03 211 1692 or 0800 224 224 or online at bluffoysterfestbookings@icc.govt.nz in addition to www.ticketdirect.co.nz

Bus services will operate from Invercargill at a cost of $12 return at 10am, 11am and 12 noon before returning at 4pm, 5pm, 6pm and 7pm. The bus routes are available at www.bluffoysterfest.co.nz

Support for the Festival comes from the Bay View Hotel in Bluff along with the support of our other major sponsors and funders such as Real Journeys, who supply the site, plus the New Zealand Community Trust, the ILT Foundation, Community Trust Of Southland, Bluff Oyster Management Company, Lion Nathan, Party Plus Invercargill, South Port NZ Ltd and The Southland Times.

ends

© Scoop Media