A lower than usual turnout did little to dampen the high spirits of organisers and attendees at the annual Bluff Oyster and Food Festival.
It remains unclear, however, whether the bonhomie was enough to guarantee the festival’s future.
Festival chairman John Edminstin said a few gate sales had helped out.
“The weather’s played its part, so we’re selling a lot of beanies”, Mr Edminstin said.
It had been a bittersweet weekend for him, having retired from oyster fishing on Friday after 51 years on the job, Mr Edminstin, 76, said.
Others came to the festival with goals in mind.
“We’ve been coming since 2014. We heard there was a calling for people to come this year.”
There were benefits to the lower attendance such as less crowding, especially in the seated areas.
Mrs Kilburn said her favourite part of the festival was “the oysters, of course ... also seeing how many people are enjoying the oysters”.
Kat Kaiwai came from Ruatoria and spent $120 on four dishes of paua sashimi and two buckets of raw kina and felt “so happy” going back for more.
Good seafood was also on the menu for Alasdair Mackenzie and Mike Bishop.
“Trying the food, oysters, kina, paua”, Mr Bishop said.
Down from Invercargill, they were both part of the Invercargill Highland Pipe Band, which had been playing at the festival for 15 years.
“It’s always a great day, a lot of eating, a lot of drinking,” Mr Mackenzie said.
They had noticed a dip in numbers this year.
“Usually, all the queues are big, so it’s definitely a bit less than normal,” he said.
They said they both loved the community aspect and how many different kinds of people came to the festival every year.
“It’s about the community vibe, a lot of out-of-towners too ... it’s kind of friends from the whole country together,” Mr Bishop said.
‘‘Everyone is doing it for free, doing it for Bluff ... big pride as well’’.
Barnes Oysters general manager Graeme Wright, of Invercargill, said the collaboration between Barnes and Bluff community groups was a win-win.
‘‘We actually used the Bluff Rowing Club and Bluff Environment Trust to run our stall today, so it’s a fundraiser for them as well.’’
Although attendance was lower than previous years, everyone he had seen on Saturday had been having a good time.
‘‘There’s some really passionate oyster lovers around and they’re just munching through them.’’
Barnes Oysters had 1400 dozen oysters for sale but there had been fears before the festival there would be no Bluff oysters.
This uncertainty affected ticket sales the most, along with concerns related to the cost of living.
Mr Edminstin said he thought uncertainty about the number of oysters that would be available after a low-catch year and the cost-of-living crisis probably affected numbers at the festival.
Despite this, he was happy with the overall turnout and had noticed more attendees from outside New Zealand at the festival.
‘‘The culture is changing, like it is right through New Zealand.’’
He hoped the oyster festival would continue for years to come but this year left a sense of uncertainty, he said.
‘‘It’s a problem about the oysters as well. I think it’s not the best out there and we’ll have to see what happens.’’
