Hokitika goes wild for food festival

A near-capacity crowd of 18,000 once again took their taste buds on a rollercoaster trip of a lifetime at the 16th annual Hokitika Wildfoods Festival at the weekend.

Hokitika hosted a quadrupling of its regular population and turned on the sunshine to feature tastes that would "put wrinkles in your toenails", according to one visitor.

Westland District Mayor Maureen Pugh said, "The spirit of good, clean, safe fun makes me very proud of our district".