Organisers of the annual CHB The Festival say the event was a huge success.
The art, music and food festival was held at Pukeora Estate, Waipukurau, and while crowds were never expected to reach the dizzy heights of the 22,000-plus invading the park in Napier, festival organising committee secretary Caroline Innes said numbers were likely to have been at least as good as last year.
"We've had a lovely, happy festival, and we've very fortunate with the weather ... considering the forecast," she said as the festival drew to a close yesterday.
It was bolstered by North Island-wide promotion, and operators of about 120 stalls from as far as Auckland and Wellington were indicating they are keen to return next year.