Promote Dunstan Wine and Food festival

DATE : March 31, 2013 (Easter Sunday)
WHERE: Main street, Clyde, Central Otago
TIME: 11 a.m. – 5p.m.
ENTRY: $10. With a festival glass $15 (no wine will be sold unless you have a festival glass)
School children under 13 free.
Over 20 Wine stalls
Over 20 Food stalls
Music and entertainers all day
Art Exhibition
Market stalls.
Bungy Tramp and Face Painter
Two eftpos machines
Shuttle Bus between Alexandra and Clyde (From Alexandra Information Centre
at noon, 1p.m. and 2p.m. Last bus from Clyde at 5.30 p.m.)
No dogs please – it’s too crowded and unfair to animals.

2013 marks the twelth annual celebration of wines from the world’s most southerly vineyards. It is Otago’s biggest wine event and has established itself as a major wine festival in New Zealand, attracting thousands of visitors.

Part of its charm is the location. The festival is held in Clyde’s historic precinct which has retained many of its original schist stone buildings dating back to the gold mining era in the nineteenth century. It is also surrounded by the stunning Central Otago scenery of schist rock hills and mountains.

The festival is organised by Promote Dunstan, a small non-profit group of volunteers. To mark festival’s tenth anniversary, the organising committee has decided to host its first celebrity chef.

The festival is restricted to wineries or wine producers in the Clyde, Earnscleugh, Alexandra basin and local growers have always given great support. Three new wineries are taking part this year making a total of 23 wine stalls. As well as the internationally recognised Central Otago pinot noir, they’ll be offering other varieties such as chardonnay, riesling, pinot gris, gewürztraminer, rose, and cabernet sauvignon.

Other festival highlights include all-day live music, food and general market stalls, and an art exhibition by the Central Otago Art Society in the historic Dunstan Masonic Lodge.

A shuttle bus will run between Alexandra and Clyde, leaving from the Alexandra Visitor’s Centre at noon, 1pm. and 2pm. The last bus leaves Clyde at 5.30pm. Cost is $5 one way.

Entry to the festival is $10. (children free). The festival glass is $5 and people wishing to taste the wines must have a festival glass. The BNZ will be operating eftpos machines at the main entry in Sunderland street.