Sun shines on Nelson

What a difference a week makes! Last Saturday Pip and I were getting drenched at the Havelock Mussel festival; a week later we were bathing in the warm autumn sunshine in Nelson's Founders Heritage Park.

Along with three friends, Pip and I travelled over the hill to attend MarchFest, a fun family day out that's billed as, "Nelson's hip harvest hop festival celebrating craft beers, regional wines, slow food and eclectic music".

The five of us had been loaned a campervan so that we could enjoy ourselves and no-one had to worry about driving home afterwards.

In the end it all worked brilliantly: we enjoyed a great day out and then retired to the comparative comfort of our home on wheels for a good night's sleep.

Unlike the Havelock event, when it comes to beers MarchFest is a winner.

This year six local breweries had brewed special festival beers.

Fat Lip was a richly malty and generously hopped amber ale from Founders Organic Brewery, while the recipe for ITIOS (In the Interest of Science), an "experimental style" brew from the Golden Bear Brewing Co in Mapua, included Blackboy peaches.

More radical still was Monkey's Uncle, a fruit beer from the Monkey Wizard brewery in Riwaka.

This unusual lager was aromatised with basil and wild chamomile and then primed in the keg with bush honey.

By comparison, Easter Bunny a dark, chocolaty tasting, Manuka-flavoured beer from The Mussel Inn (Onekaka) was a comparatively conservative creation.

Jose's Cerveza Ambar from Tasman Brewing (Richmond) was full bodied but very drinkable, with a hefty hop addition to balance the caramel richness.

But my personal favourite on the day was Dr. Jen's Marchfest Ale, a hand-pulled, cask-conditioned bitter from Townshend's Brewery (Upper Moutere).

This appetising and immensely suppable (3.8 per cent) beer was rumoured to be inspired by Adnams Southwold Bitter, one of the United Kingdom's cult real ales.

Having visited Adnams brewery, I can confirm the tasty Kiwi brew wasn't too far off the mark.

The opportunity to sample all these one-off brews alongside a fine selection of other Kiwi craft beers attracted beer lovers from all over the country and overseas. These included members of the Society of Beer Advocates (SOBA), New Zealand's leading beer consumer group, who had combined their visit with a weekend tour of Nelson's breweries.

It was my first visit to the Nelson event and I must say I was really impressed. The festival's website claims, "MarchFest is geared towards people who make informed choices about their food, drink, musical taste and want to attend a family-friendly event, which is safe, fun and a bit different to the run-of-the-mill festival."

Pip and I can only agree and add that it's exactly what we've been looking for in such an event.

As the MarchFest website sums up, "An event for people who want to savour not just consume!"

Blenheim's festival organisers would do well to take heed.

- The Marlborough Express