Hail to the swede, Mataura's hero!

 

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Gore has its Moonshiners Festival while Bluff has the Oyster Festival. Now, Mataura is planning to develop a signature event around another southern icon – the humble swede.

The Swede Fest is set to elevate this member of the brassica family to star status and festival organisers the Mataura Taskforce hope some of the town's famous sons and daughters will return to help.

Taskforce chairwoman Laurel Turnbull said yesterday the group wanted to stage an event it could call its own and build on it each year.

The swede was iconic to Southland, as was shown when the Stags put their Ranfurly Shield win down to Southlanders being brought up on swedes while Cantabrians were raised on corn, she said.

It was decided to incorporate some of the town's famous past and present residents after the idea to brand Mataura as the town of champions, mooted by consultant David Wilson, appeared to have lost traction, Mrs Turnbull said.

"We still want to celebrate what we have done instead of all the doom and gloom."

The Swede Fest, tentatively set down for early July, would feature a swede-rolling competition and a banquet, with swedes, naturally, the main dish on the menu.

There would also be jack-o-lanterns carved out of swedes for table decorations, Mrs Turnbull said.

Meanwhile, the taskforce was happy with the progress made by Mr Wilson, who was engaged last year to develop a revitalisation programme for the town, and wanted to enter into stage two, she said.

When the initiative was launched it was reported Mr Wilson would be paid $19,800 for the initial phase, which equated to a daily consultancy fee of $1365. This was paid using a grant from the Community Trust of Southland. The second phase would cost about $43,000.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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