The Hokitika Wildfoods Festival is one of New Zealand's most unique and adventurous food events, held each March in the small West Coast town of Hokitika. Now in its fourth decade, it has built an international reputation as the place where the brave come to eat — a celebration of the West Coast's wild larder that ranges from smoked whitebait and venison to huhu grubs, mountain oysters and other genuinely daring delicacies that you will not find anywhere else.

The festival is a reflection of the West Coast's rugged character and the resourcefulness of the communities that have made their lives in one of New Zealand's most dramatic and remote landscapes. Alongside the wild food challenges, there is live music, the famous Feral Fashion competition, entertainment and a buzzing festival atmosphere that draws visitors from across the country and around the world who come as much for the experience as for the food.

For the adventurous traveller, the Wildfoods Festival is one of those bucket-list New Zealand events that delivers exactly what it promises — something genuinely different, deeply local and impossible to replicate anywhere else. Whether you take on the challenge of the wildest offerings or stick to the whitebait fritters and craft beer, a day in Hokitika in March is a West Coast experience worth the journey.