Harvest Hawke's Bay Wine and Food Festival is one of the wine festivals that anchors the Hawke's Bay calendar, drawing both local visitors and international wine travellers each year. It is held at Tuki Tuki Road in Havelock North, in the heart of one of New Zealand's most distinctive wine areas. It is an annual event with an established local audience and a consistent place in the regional calendar.
18 wineries, 1 craft brewery, 9 restaurants. Live music. Riverside setting beneath Te Mata Peak. Harvest and grape festivals — fiestas de la vendimia, festas das vindimas, weinlesefeste — are some of the longest-running celebrations in their regions, with many running uninterrupted for a century or more. Programmes typically combine grape-stomping demonstrations, traditional music, parades of allegorical floats, food stalls offering regional specialities, and tastings of the area's wines. The events have strong local character and are often as much community celebrations as wine programmes, with town councils, parish committees and local producer associations sharing the organisational load. Many festivals incorporate religious elements — blessings of the harvest, processions to the parish church — that connect the wine calendar to the liturgical year. The event is organised by Harvest Hawke's Bay, which sets the tone and direction of the programme each year.
Hawke's Bay on the east coast of the North Island is New Zealand's second-largest and oldest commercial wine region, with viticulture dating to 1851. The region was named one of the world's Great Wine Capitals in 2023, joining Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Verona and South Australia in the elite group. Hawke's Bay is best known for its full-bodied red wines from Bordeaux varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec) and Syrah — particularly from the distinctive Gimblett Gravels sub-region with its free-draining alluvial soils. The Bridge Pa Triangle produces premium Chardonnay, with the cooler Central Hawke's Bay zones producing elegant Pinot Noir. Producers like Te Mata, Craggy Range, Trinity Hill, Mission Estate (founded 1851, NZ's oldest winery), Vidal and Bilancia lead the regional quality.
The 2026 edition is scheduled for 21 November 2026. Cost details are best confirmed directly with the organiser ahead of travel. Full programme, ticketing and updated information are published on the official site at harvesthawkesbay.com. Visitors are advised to check directly with the organiser for the latest schedule, as festival programmes are sometimes updated close to the event date.
Hawke's Bay is reached via Hawke's Bay airport (NPR) at Napier with daily flights from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Napier — the world's most concentrated Art Deco city, rebuilt after the 1931 earthquake — and the sister city Hastings are the wine-tourism bases, with Havelock North a popular boutique base. The 200km Hawke's Bay Wine Trail and the Cycle the Vines bike-tour network make the region one of New Zealand's most accessible wine areas. Beyond wine, the region pairs with the Cape Kidnappers gannet colony, the Te Mata Peak, and the strong Māori cultural heritage of the area.
