Whangarei Fritter Festival a sizzling success, say organisers

First-time Fritter Festival attendees Shelley Muir and Ashley Bartley loved their day out. Photo / Tania Whyte

Thousands of people enjoyed a day of food, fun and dancing on Saturday, with organisers dubbing Whangarei's Fritter Festival a success.

The annual event - where festival-goers feast on the best fritters served up by local cafes and restaurants while sipping on cold beverages - was held at Toll Stadium.

Whangarei District Council marketing and events team leader Rachel O'Gorman said 5557 people went through the gates.

"It's about the same as last year, which we're really pleased with."

She said with the popular band Six60 set to play in Whangarei this coming weekend, and last year's Fritter Festival being the five-year anniversary, she thought attendance numbers might be down to between 4500-5000.

She said organisers were lucky with the weather and the one shower, which passed through mid-afternoon, only lasted about five minutes.

"When you're walking around the festival, it's so nice to see everyone happy and having a really good time. That's always the best thing for me."

The best fritter was judged by respected food writer Ray McVinnie, who has been a judge on My Kitchen Rules NZ and MasterChef NZ.

He chose Power Plant wholefood and organic store's vegan and gluten-free fritter as the winner.

The fritter was a northern corn fritter topped with smoky barbecue jackfruit, bean salsa and raw rainbow slaw dressed with herb guacamole and caramelised onion creme.

Ms O'Gorman said Power Plant had only opened their shop in Whangarei four months ago, and to take out the top prize was a "massive achievement".

The people's choice went to Absolute Caterers for their Thai prawn fritter with crab and lime mayo.

Festival-goers were required to load money on to a wristband, which was scanned at each stall to purchase food or drink.

Ms O'Gorman said organisers had already received good feedback from the bands and Mr McVinnie, who is keen to come back next year.

She said the crowd behaved very well, with no one evicted from the event or arrested.

A survey would be emailed to ticket buyers, those who put their email down when voting for the people's choice, and also posted on the Fritter Festival's Facebook page this week to get feedback from those who attended.