Wine and food festival may end

The Oamaru Wine and Food Festival, which at its peak attracted thousands of people, may be finished, after financial losses in recent years.

At its annual meeting tomorrow night, the festival committee will vote on winding up the event, which started in the late 1990s.

It costs about $25,000 a year to run the event, which needs 750 people to break even.

However, in the past three years the festival had not made a profit, despite attempts by its committee to make it more attractive, chairman Mark Julius said yesterday.

Crowds had averaged about 500 in recent years and losses had eaten into reserves.

''We can't see how we can improve on this number without pushing costs and the risks higher,'' he said.

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