Trout festival proves popular | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

The Ngongotaha Trout Festival looks set to become an annual event after the success of the inaugural festival which attracted hundreds at the weekend.

Event organiser David Taui said it had been a huge success with the finale at the domain on Saturday proving a real crowd pleaser.

"It went so smoothly - incident free," he said yesterday.

"The atmosphere was chilled out. It was absolutely buzzing."

However, organisers were disappointed a planned trout fishing contest had to be canned.

"We just didn't have enough interest," he said.

A street party which was part of the original plans for the festival was unable to go ahead after the organisers' road closure application was turned down by the Rotorua District Council but it was moved to the Ngongotaha Domain and Mr Taui said hundreds of people took part.

He would now speak with local businesses to ensure the festival became a regular on Ngongotaha's calendar.

"It is here to stay," he said.

"It was a great day for everyone."

Ngongotaha business owners and residents were impressed with how the festival went.

Ngongotaha Ocean Seafood owners Rebecca and Quentin Frew said it was disappointing the street party didn't go ahead but business had still been good.

Mrs Frew said she bought in extra supplies and rostered on extra staff to deal with the hordes of people expected to take in the festival.

"We were geared up. Morale was high but sadly we missed out on having a concert night. It would have been great - so neat for the community," she said. "We have been frantic though. Luckily, we were prepared."

Every year the Frews attend the Whangamata Beach Hop and she said they had been looking forward to a similar event right outside their shop.

Mr Frew said that as a child he often saw how lively the village could be when his parents took him to the sale yards.

"We know what these [street parties] can start like and what they can end up like," he said. "You can just imagine the stage and people dancing and having fun. It would have been so exciting not only for Ngongotaha but for Rotorua. Ngongotaha would have been humming."

Ngongotaha Four Square owner Sailesh Patel said the festival had gone extremely well.

"What an awesome effort from the organisers. One hundred per cent effort," he said.

"There were no hassles or problems at all. This was such a plus for Ngongotaha, a plus for Rotorua and New Zealand. A plus for everyone."

Beaumont Rd resident Grant Lister said the best part of his Easter weekend was the music concert at the domain.

"It was just out of this world. We have some great local talent here. They should run something like this more often.

"What a neat thing to do to bring the community together for a bit of fun. It's was like the old days when the village was alive and pumping with life and fun," he said.