The First Light Wine and Food Festival celebrates the exceptional produce of Tairāwhiti Gisborne — the first region in the world to see each new day's sunrise — in a festival that combines the region's award-winning wines with its extraordinary food producers and the warm summer atmosphere of New Zealand's East Coast. Held in January, it is a natural complement to the New Year celebrations that make Gisborne famous and an introduction to the region's growing reputation as a serious food and wine destination.
Gisborne is best known for its Chardonnay — widely regarded as some of the finest in New Zealand — alongside Gewürztraminer and other varietals that thrive in the region's warm, sunny climate. The festival showcases these wines alongside locally caught seafood, Māori kai, artisan food producers and the cuisine of a region that sits at the intersection of Pacific, Māori and New Zealand European food cultures.
For visitors to Gisborne in the summer — already one of New Zealand's finest coastal destinations with its surf beaches, vineyards and easy-going character — the First Light Wine and Food Festival adds a concentrated celebration of regional food culture that makes the journey east worthwhile. It is the kind of regional festival that reminds you how much New Zealand's food and wine story extends beyond the well-known names to the distinctive and delicious produce of its more remote corners.