Fresh Toast

There has been a buzz in Mar­tin­bor­ough over the last few years. An injec­tion of energy, coupled with a desire to be part of the Mar­tin­bor­ough scene, is present in the vital­ity of the people and in the increas­ing pop­ular­ity of annu­al events such as the Olive Har­vest Fest­iv­al, the Septem­ber Jazz Fest­iv­al, sum­mer farm­ers’ mar­kets, the omni­present Mar­tin­bor­ough Fair and, of course, the township’s major annu­al draw­card, the ubi­quit­ous Toast Mar­tin­bor­ough fest­iv­al. Toast has been around almost since the town­ship became New Zealand’s only wine vil­lage, but des­pite this it still man­ages to keep vital and fresh, and remains the go-to event of the year.

We’re all becom­ing a bit more savvy and soph­ist­ic­ated when it comes to our wine, our food and how we put the two togeth­er. This epi­cur­ean know-how of the punters is a strength that the Toast Mar­tin­bor­ough fest­iv­al plays to. Toast 2014 sees a mouth-water­ing smor­gas­bord of chefs, res­taur­ants and tapas-style morsels for enjoy­ment, exper­i­ment and recom­mend­a­tion, all partnered with an equally rich vari­ety of wines and wine styles. As some­thing of a Toast vet­er­an, I am sal­iv­at­ing as I read through the details of these sens­ory delight and schem­ing ways I can pull a few strings to ensure that I get my ticket.

One new fea­ture that doesn’t escape my eye (as a pro­fes­sion­al) is the Friends of Toast ‘Friend­ship Zone’. Some­thing of a rest­ing retreat as you digest your latest suc­cu­lence, the zone allows you to order iced tea as you recline on a com­fy seat and have your shoulders rubbed. After all, a girl spend­ing hours feed­ing and lique­fy­ing her­self does not want to suf­fer any RSI. A girl wants to ensure her tast­ing arm is per­form­ing at its best. I am delighted!

But the greatest thing about the Toast Mar­tin­bor­ough fest­iv­al is the etern­al spir­it of fun, friend­ship and frivolity that epi­tom­ises the day you design for your­self. You can cre­ate your own food and wine epi­phany in any which way you choose. Vign­er­ons, res­taur­at­eurs, chefs and punters all col­lab­or­ate year after year with tire­less energy, enthu­si­asm and excitement.

Yes, there is a buzz in Mar­tin­bor­ough. It’s fresh, it’s vibrant, it’s Toast Mar­tin­bor­ough. And it’s loc­ated right on Wellington’s doorstep.

Toast tick­ets — what you need to know:

• Tick­ets go on sale at 9am on 1 Octo­ber through
• Tick­ets cost $70 per per­son plus ser­vice fees.
• A max­im­um of four pub­lic tick­ets may be pur­chased at a time.
• You can pur­chase return trans­port with your tick­ets (selec­ted loc­a­tions only).[/info]