Nashi swap festival promotes energy exchange

Niko Manins, 6, and Zofia with Eva Fyfe, 6, from the Mount enjoy building an instrument at The Nashi festival. Photo / Ruth Keber

Nashi pears, handmade instruments and herbal remedies were a hit at the second Nashi Festival held on a quaint little farm off the Wairoa River this weekend.

The event was an excuse for families and friends to come together, share and learn things from each other in a bid to exchange energy instead of money.

Janice Higgison, owner of the property and event organiser, said it was the second year for the festival with about 100 participants this time.

"Nashi Festival is a strong cooperative about sharing abundance.

"It started here on the property because we have 60 old nashi trees, which all come ready at the same time so there is an abundance of food that is ready for harvest, which is more than we can consume before it gets wasted or is eaten by the birds.

"So we were trying to think about how do we share what we have too much of, and how do we spread that around so everybody gets some. That [sharing] goes beyond the nashis like sharing knowledge, sharing art, sharing music and sharing resources.

"People are here with trade tables to swap things and to teach people skills they have.

"It's really focused on keeping the land healthy, giving people more resources to be sustainable and to help people to have fun within their means.

"Trying to get people to by-pass energy of money and get into exchange, people are really starting to get interested in exchanging energy instead of money."