Covid kills Kerikeri's street party, vineyard party takes its place

Even unicorns reckon Kerikeri's Street Party is the highlight of the town's social calendar. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Not content with laying waste to Northland's international tourist industry, the Covid-19 virus has also killed off Kerikeri's biggest social event of the year.

All is not lost, however, with an alternative to the hugely popular Kerikeri Street Party being held at Kai nui Vineyard north of town.

The replacement event, Kerikeri Vineyard Party, will start at 5pm on November 21 and will feature top covers band Hands Off — a hit at last year's street party — as well as a wide range of local entertainment, food, wine and craft beer.

Like the street party, it will be a free, all-ages event on the evening after the Kerikeri Half Marathon.

With as many as 5000 people packing the main street every year, the post-half-marathon Kerikeri Street Party is the town's biggest social event of the year. Photo / Peter de Graaf

With much of the usual funding unavailable or uncertain this year due to Covid, concert promoter Jackie Sanders said the job of organising the street party had become too much for a small volunteer committee.

They decided to put it on hold for a year while Sanders, who has organised the bands for the last two street parties, stepped in to run an alternative event with some funding from the Far North District Council.

''That means we can have something. It'll be the same as the street party but in a vineyard,'' Sanders said.

She was still finalising the local lineup but it was likely to include Kerikeri rocker Merv Penny.

The street party was founded in 2009 by bed-and-breakfast owners to persuade out-of-town runners in the Kerikeri Half Marathon to stay an extra night.

Previously most had travelled to the Bay of Islands on Friday night and headed home on Saturday straight after the prizegiving.

The event was an instant success, drawing crowds of up to 5000 and providing a welcome boost to the town's hospitality and accommodation providers.

■ Free parking will be available at the venue but a better bet might be the shuttle buses from Kerikeri town centre. Return bus tickets cost $5 but must be bought in advance at eventfinda.co.nz (search for Kerikeri Vineyard Party).