The Maniototo Bards, Ballads and Bulldust Festival is gaining momentum and has the potential to become a major drawcard, one of its organisers says.
Fifteen performers took part in the festival at the weekend, at the Waipiata Country Hotel, the Oturehua Railway Hotel and the Ancient Briton Hotel at Naseby.
The event began more than a decade ago, and Maniototo Promotions took it over two years ago, changing the format and dates of the festival.
''Counting the number of people who came along to the jam session at the Ancient Briton on Saturday night, I think there were probably 400 to 500 people who viewed the performers in action over the the two days of the festival,'' Maniototo Promotions secretary Amie Pont said.
''As the awareness of this event continues to grow, I think it will evolve into something big, a real drawcard for the district.
''There's nothing like this held anywhere else,'' she said. While Naseby, where it started, would always remain the ''heartbeat'' of the festival, it was good to take the performances out to a wider area and include Oturehua and Waipiata.
The musicians, poets, writers and singers used the Maniototo's landscapes and its colourful history as their inspiration.
''One of the really interesting things about this festival is hearing our history and stories about the place we choose to live, through other people's eyes.
''The artists have gone to the trouble to present works inspired by this area or ones that relate to high country farming or gold mining,'' Mrs Pont said.
