{"id":363178,"date":"2026-04-04T08:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T08:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/363178\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T08:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T08:25:08","slug":"kumeu-easter-festival-backlash-grows-as-vendors-count-heavy-losses-claim-broken-promises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/363178\/","title":{"rendered":"Kume\u016b Easter Festival backlash grows as vendors count heavy losses, claim broken promises"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201c[We] were told, especially the ice cream vendors that I was talking to, that there were only going to be two ice cream vendors or two coffee carts,\u201d he told the Herald.<\/p>\n

\u201cI signed up last-minute, but I wasn\u2019t informed that there were going to be five or six on the lead-up to it. And obviously, that affects your income and return on your business.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VendorsVendors at the Kume\u016b Easter Festival say they paid up to $1600 to secure stalls but now face heavy losses as criticism of the event circulates online.<\/p>\n

Vendors had paid up to $1600 to secure a site for the full five days, Oti said, while others were spending $400 for a single day.<\/p>\n

He said the mismatch between expectations and reality, combined with negative feedback from attendees, was already impacting trading.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the reputation that\u2019s going on on Facebook at the moment, I suggest yesterday was going to be the most profitable day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI go around having conversations with other vendors, and everyone\u2019s target is just trying to make their deposit back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another vendor initially scheduled to operate at the festival said they pulled out last week after key conditions were changed.<\/p>\n

The owner of Blend NZ, which sells coffee, smoothie bowls and toasts, said she paid about $1200 last year to secure a site early with the promise of amenities like free power.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne week prior to the event, they messaged us saying that we were to be fully self-sufficient,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t operate for five days like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ManyMany vendors were using generators for their power, escalating costs alongside the low attendance.<\/p>\n

The woman said she pursued a refund but was refused, with a credit offered instead for a future event, and has since lodged a complaint with the Disputes Tribunal.<\/p>\n

Oti also raised concerns about communication with organisers, saying vendors have struggled to get answers about the event\u2019s shortcomings.<\/p>\n

Many faced unexpected costs running generators after being told power would no longer be supplied, while also trying to recoup costs as attendance slumped.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve asked for a contact number of the best representative to bring up these concerns, and [the on-site manager] keeps telling me to email, but it\u2019s something that will just never get answered,\u201d Oti said.<\/p>\n

Further problems stemmed from the event\u2019s limited attractions and entertainment, which had already drawn criticism from attendees<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty much essentially three bouncy castles and mini jeeps,\u201d Oti said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou might wait an hour in line to get the bouncy castles or jeeps that last for five minutes. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe noticed the trends of people leaving because there\u2019s nothing keeping them here, no reason to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AttractionsAttractions at the festival are limited to a few bouncy castles and a mini jeep ride.<\/p>\n

Oti said organisers reduced the entry fee to $5 and ride passes to $10 this morning, but believed it would not be enough to temper criticism.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of customers we saw when we were trading yesterday, you could see the disappointment on their face.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Pait, who bought tickets in advance for his family, said he drove 28km to the showgrounds to check out the event after seeing the negative reviews online.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got here and there\u2019s literally two bouncy castles and a track with carts that the kids can drive around in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we spent $80 on nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pait said he had to request a refund from the on-site manager after failing to reach organisers by phone or email.<\/p>\n

While he credited the manager for acknowledging his concerns, he described the event\u2019s intentions as \u201cpathetic\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just said to my wife and kids, \u2018You stay home, put a movie on. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s going to be anything\u2019, and I was right when I got here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite major concerns with the entertainment, Oti said the event\u2019s food offering was strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an awesome opportunity if you\u2019re just coming to eat. I think it\u2019s worth the value food-wise, but it\u2019s not worth the value for the rides,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yet by mid-afternoon, Oti said many vendors had left following a disappointing turnout.<\/p>\n

Dozens of vendors were now chasing clarity and pushing for redress from organisers, with Oti saying that \u201csomething needs to be done\u201d to address the fallout.<\/p>\n

Bites & Beats have been approached for comment about vendors\u2019 concerns.<\/p>\n

Responding to queries yesterday following complaints from attendees, a spokesperson said pricing varied due to multiple pre-sale tiers that were \u201cclearly advertised online\u201d and designed to manage demand \u201cand reduce wait times\u201d for rides.<\/p>\n

They said all rides were operated by an independent contractor, and concerns about safety and quality were being reviewed.<\/p>\n

The festival remains scheduled to run until Tuesday, April 7.<\/p>\n

Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201c[We] were told, especially the ice cream vendors that I was talking to, that there were only going…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1443,806,52400,8172,27245,13912,2741,8278,5906,45212,171628,8231,1872,5131,1644,9978,6559,110242,5342,76566,111,43,139,3591,69,86269,1523,30503,13422,8229,191018,3608,36298],"class_list":{"0":"post-363178","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-about","9":"tag-as","10":"tag-attendees","11":"tag-backlash","12":"tag-beyond","13":"tag-broken","14":"tag-claim","15":"tag-conditions","16":"tag-count","17":"tag-disappointed","18":"tag-easter","19":"tag-event","20":"tag-face","21":"tag-festival","22":"tag-financial","23":"tag-grows","24":"tag-heavy","25":"tag-kume","26":"tag-losses","27":"tag-misled","28":"tag-new-zealand","29":"tag-news","30":"tag-newzealand","31":"tag-numbers","32":"tag-nz","33":"tag-organisers","34":"tag-over","35":"tag-promises","36":"tag-stall","37":"tag-they","38":"tag-vendors","39":"tag-were","40":"tag-widens"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}