Māori food from the land and sea highlighted at Kāwhia Kai Festival

Hohepa Te Whiu on the wok, his stall Ka Pai Mussels proved to be very popular at the festival. Photos / Caitlan Johnston

The small coastal town of Kāwhia was bustling over Waitangi Day long weekend with people all keen to get their hands on some kai from the iconic Kāwhia Kai Festival.

Around 5000 people attended the festival on Saturday – the town's residential population is less than 400.

The Kāwhia Kai Festival is a celebration of Māori food from the land and sea and it has been running since the early 2000s.

The festival has seen two committees organise and run the event.

Around 5000 attended the Kāwhia Kai Festival.

The current committee has been running it for seven years and its chairwoman Marj Kaati says the day this year was a brilliant and successful one.

"The crowd was excellent and many of the food stalls had sold out by 3.30pm or much sooner," says Marj.

She says the highlight of the day was the paddle of a waka through the harbour which was crewed by local paddlers.

One stall that was having a really good day was Ka Pai Mussels, whose speciality is barbecue wok flambe kai moana.

They were serving up mussels, prawns and king scallops and at one point there were more than 50 people lined up to get their hands on a portion.

Visitors to the festival enjoying their kai.

By midday, chef and owner of the stall Hohepa Te Whiu says they had nearly sold out of everything.

"It's been a very good day," says Hohepa.

Chairman of the Kāwhia Community Projects Trust Incorporation, Kit Jefferies, says he really enjoyed the day.

"There was a really good crowd on the day, at one point the park was absolutely chocker blocked."

Kit was heavily involved in the festival.

The band he is a part of, the Kāwhia Muso, took to the stage first to entertain the crowds and his family runs the Kai Tino Pai food stall.

"We specialise in the best mussel fritters in the world," says Kit.

Local band, the Kāwhia Muso, took to the stage to entertain the crowds.

Once all the final reports are drawn up, Marj says planning for next year's festival will begin.