Visa Wellington On a Plate

Since launching in 2009 with just 35 participating venues, Wellington On a Plate has grown to become New Zealand's biggest food festival by consumer participation, with more than 250 hospitality venues across the capital taking part each year. Traditionally held throughout August, the festival now runs alongside its own dedicated events, including Burger Wellington — a city-wide competition for the best specially-created festival burger — and Beervana, a craft beer festival that draws around 16,000 people on its own.

Each edition of the festival is built around a different theme, which restaurants and bars interpret through special festival-only dishes, cocktails and menu items available only during the month. It's a genuinely city-wide event: rather than being centred on one venue or park, the festival plays out across Wellington's own restaurant and bar scene, giving visitors a reason to explore neighbourhoods they might not otherwise seek out.

Economic studies have put the festival's contribution to Wellington's local economy at around NZD 30 million a year, making it not just New Zealand's most popular food festival, but a genuine economic fixture of the capital's calendar.