New name and life for iconic Bay wine festival

3 September 2010

MEDIA RELEASE

New name and life for iconic Bay wine festival

Harvest Hawke’s Bay will no longer be part of the Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Inc. event portfolio for 2011 following a review of the past year’s activities and strategic direction for the regional wine association.

Gameplan Event Management, who has run the annual February event under contract to the regional wine organisation for the past seven years, will continue with an event under a new name in a centralised venue with a greater Hawke’s Bay wine and food regional focus.

With greater demands on resources to promote Hawke’s Bay in a global market, Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers members resolved at a strategic wine summit held last month to support greater international focus.

Lyn Bevin, Executive Officer of HB Winegrowers, says that the name ‘Harvest Hawke’s Bay’ would not be lost forever. “We will retain ownership of the name and may potentially use it for more streamlined activity with international trade in the future. Right now we are focused on further developing the promotion of the ‘Hawke’s Bay Wine’ brand with Australia and Asia as key target markets.”

The summer event season had greatly changed over the years since Harvest Hawke’s Bay began, with a greater number of concerts, wineries and food producers adding colour, diversity and visitor choice, says Ms Bevin.

“The new event will provide visitors and locals with the experience of our fantastic wine region and wines.”

ENDS

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