Business students’ Whitianga Food Festival a success

Hundreds of people attended the early evening event to enjoy local food vendors and Mercury Bay Area School (MBAS) Business student stalls. 

We received very positive feedback about the festival. People attending felt that we had created a good vibe, and were very happy with the stalls we had there. We were surprised at how many turned up to the Whiti Food Fest because it was our first time running an event.

Georgia Litherland, Josie Fairweather, Elise Reader, and Luscha McMiken – Festival Organising Committee. 

Food businesses and a relaxed evening

The atmosphere was relaxed and a great way to spend a Sunday evening. Families sat on picnic blankets in the sun and ate while listening to music from MBAS students Alex Litherland and Brielle Cottier-Hall. Children met, played together and tried their hand at the outside games provided.

Festival goers were treated to a range of products provided by Mercury Bay Area School business students, local business vendors and the Mercury Bay Lions including:

• Real fruit ice creams 
• Pork buns and dumplings 
• Toasties
• Cheese Rolls
• Sushi
• Plants & succulents
• Candles
• Soap
• Lip balms
• T-shirts
• Scents
• ‘Bling’ for your crocs
• Lil Orbits Doughnuts (local vendor)
• Opito Bay Salt (local vendor)
• Sausage Sizzle (Lions Club).

The lucky gate spot prize of a Kayak was drawn by Thames Coromandel Mayor Len Salt, a local Whitianga resident.

Plans for Whiti Food Fest 2023

The Festival organising team of Georgia Litherland, Josie Fairweather, Elise Reader, and Luscha McMiken are already planning how they could make the festival an annual event and how to improve what it offers.  

As part of learnings from this event they have decided that next time they would start organising the Whiti Food Fest earlier in the year, so everything runs more smoothly. The team also felt that they would make sure they contacted potential stall holders earlier so we have more variety of food. 

About Mercury Bay Area School Business Studies

As part of the Business and Enterprise studies course at Mercury Bay Area School, students get to develop their own small business and then put them into a ‘real world’ context. The course uses skills and learnings from across the school curriculum:

• Mathematics (financial aspects of a business)
• English (developing business plans, creating reports for business stakeholders) 
• Technical subjects/Science (product development)
• Social Studies (understanding the human resources in a business).

Students can go on to tertiary study, develop their own business, start an apprenticeship or work for someone else - the course can have significant relevance in all of those careers.