Harvest Hawke’s Bay

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By Lawrence Yule, February 4th, 2010

I went to Harvest Hawke’s Bay on Saturday, which was held for the first time at a central venue – HDC’s own Roys Hill site.
On the day I asked around 50 people what they thought of the event and without fail they all loved it and so did I. More than 3000 attended and many stayed well after the entertainment was over.
In the days after, reports in the paper have been less than complimentary and I’m wondering what the general consensus is… Did people have a good time? Would you go again next year? Is there anything that can be done to improve the event next time around?

Posted in Random Thoughts | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “Harvest Hawke’s Bay”

Damon Harvey says:

February 4, 2010 at 5:05 pm

As said on fruitbowl earlier this week – i think for a first up go it was great. Sure there will be those that quibble but in most cases it’s only the knockers that will say anything. Good to hear you were asking people as that type of feedback isreally important.
As said in my comment there are things to improve but that’s always the case. Some increased support from the wine association my also help – did not see any real evidence that they were involved – but I may have been looking through my wine glass.
Lyn Bevin says:

February 11, 2010 at 8:45 am

I attended the Harvest HB participants debrief last night and the feedback was extremely positive. As a new event held at a grassroots location in an uncertain economic climate I felt the new Harvest Hawke’s Bay was very successful. As the EO of HB Winegrowers Inc I thought I’d just clarify a few things – the event is owned by HB Winegrowers Inc and for the next 3 years has been licensed to Gameplan NZ Ltd, the event management company of Carol-Ann Stubbs. There were numerous reasons for this change and as a result HB Winegrowers now has minimal input into the planning and event management but oversee the general scope and branding of Harvest Hawke’s Bay. As with all new events, constructive criticism is valued and taken under review to improve each successive event – tasting charges and placement of stage, stalls and marquees will be part of this and my understanding is that the previous weather had some influence on this. Damon makes a good point about the visibility of HB Winegrowers at the event and this was probably overlooked due to the 2 international varietal conferences (NZ Cabernet Merlot Forum and Syrah Symposium) held on the Friday and Saturday of Harvest Hawke’s Bay. We will certainly look at this for 2011 and would welcome any further feedback. Congratulations go to Carol-Ann, her team and all those who supported her with sponsorship, help and by attending!
Damon Harvey says:

February 11, 2010 at 11:33 am

Great to hear that the association is behind this event and committed to it. I really believe that this type of event can become HUGE.
Would be great to see HBT write a little more objectively and not only get the detractors commenting but those that had a great time.