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1483 days ago

Student-led beer festival attracts thousands, but only a few hundred Scarfies

Jake Kenny Reporter from Community News

Turns out students are good at organising a beer festival.

Now in its eighth year, this weekend’s Dunedin Craft Beer and Food Festival should see 12,000 people pour through the gates of Forsyth Barr Stadium to sup on ale and cider and enjoy music from the likes of Don McGlashan and Ladi6.

Perhaps unusually for Dunedin, most of those beer lovers will not be students.

The festival is run by the Otago University and Students’ Association (OUSA), which launched it eight years ago on the concrete pad at Forsyth Barr as rain, wind and hail struck the roof.

“In those first couple of years, people were pretty nervous,'’ Jason Schroeder, OUSA’s events and venues operations manager admits.

That trepidation wasn’t entirely unfounded, with students’ alcohol-fuelled incidents attracting negative headlines.

Schroeder said for many it was difficult to understand why OUSA would put on a beer festival, which crucially was not aimed at students.

But word soon spread about the event, and by the next year the festival had encroached to a part of the grass, and then the year after reached the halfway line.

Within four years it covered the entire grass surface, and in recent years has become a two-day event, Friday and Saturday, with the former aimed at working professionals, Schroeder said.

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More messages from your neighbours
3 hours ago

Unlock Your Inner Detective: Today’s Riddle Awaits!

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

What gets wet while drying?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

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1 day ago

Poll: When should the tree go up? 🎄

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

From what we've heard, some Christmas trees are already being assembled and decorated.

What are your thoughts on the best time to get your Christmas tree up?

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When should the tree go up? 🎄
  • 5% Second half of November
    5% Complete
  • 44.3% 1st December
    44.3% Complete
  • 17.1% A week before Christmas
    17.1% Complete
  • 32.3% Whenever you wish
    32.3% Complete
  • 1.3% Other - I'll share below
    1.3% Complete
1120 votes
13 hours ago

What's your favourite tomato recipe?

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Kia ora neighbours. We know your tomato plants are still growing, but we're looking ahead to the harvest already! If you've got a family recipe for tomatoes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine to share with our readers. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our February 2025 issue.

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