All about Toast!
What’s Toast Martinborough?
Toast Martinborough takes place on the third Sunday of November each year in the boutique wine village of Martinborough, South Wairarapa, New Zealand.
About an hour and 30 minutes drive from Wellington, Toast is a unique one day multi-site event, with 8 – 10 vineyard sites participating and offering wonderful wine, food and music choices throughout the day. Once you’ve got your ticket, when you get here, all you need to do is select which vineyards you’d like to visit, hop on a shuttle (or walk) and enjoy the day.
Toast celebrates its 28th year on Sunday 17 November 2019. Book your accommodation early and make a weekend of it, as town fills up quickly.
General admission tickets go on sale on 17 September (iticket and c/c fees apply) and will be $90 each.
When you purchase tickets you’ll be given the option to pay via bank transfer /internet banking OR online eftpos (ASB, Westpac and COOP bank), OR with credit card (Visa and MasterCard only), and there’s even a layby option.
If you need to purchase a Tranzit return bus ticket from Wellington, Wairarapa or Palmerston North, you’ll be able to do this at the same time as buying your Toast ticket(s). No matter how many Toast tickets you buy, you’ll be able to organise as many return bus seats as you need from various departure places and times. Just add what you need to your cart when buying tickets.
See Transport for pick up place, prices and times.
What’s included?
Your festival ticket includes:
-
- Wristband entry to Toast Martinborough Wine, Food and Music Festival
- A tasting glass and lanyard
- A festival programme
- Your first Taste of Toast (vintage wines excluded)*
- Access to hop on the free shuttle buses that circulate continuously around the festival circuit
- Live music from over 20 of NZ’s best live entertainment acts at all festival sites, including in the Town Square.
* Taste of Toast
New for 2019 is your first Taste of Toast.
On your wristband is a Taste of Toast token, which means that your first drinks purchase using your wristband is free, with Toast’s compliments. Qualifying Taste of Toast options are highlighted with a red asterisk at each vineyard site and in The Square. So plan ahead! If you want to start with a refreshing – and free – taste of rosé, remember, the Taste of Toast will automatically be redeemed with your first drink purchase, whether it be wine, coffee, tea of a soft drink.
Fashion Finds in The Vines
Be in for a chance to win some very stylish spot prizes! If you’re tapped on the shoulder at Toast, you’ve been tagged for looking fab! Or post a full length photo of you dressed in your best at Toast (be sure to add your location). Supreme Style Award winner announced Tues 19 November.#fashionfindsinthevines. Top prize – well the insta-fame of course, plus a double pass for Toast 2020, a bottle of wine from each of the ten festival wineries, and a $100 voucher for David Jones,Wellington.
Festival Hours
Toast opens from 9.30am – 7.00pm in The Martinborough Square in the heart of the village.
Participating vineyard sites – wine sales from 10.30am – 5.00pm
When you arrive at Toast, head to The Square in the centre of Martinborough to exchange your ticket for a glass, wristband and programme. The entry gates open at 9.30am.
If you are travelling on a charter bus, or by car, head to the Rugby Club Grounds on Regent Street for free parking. We also have an entry tent at the Rugby Ground between 9.30am – 12.30pm only, where you can exchange your ticket for all you need at Toast and you don’t need to head to the Square. There’s a coffee cart, a bank and toilets at the Rugby Ground too. However, if you park after 12.30pm you’ll need to head to The Square for your entry.
Festival Money
Once you have exchanged your ticket in The Square, you’ll need to buy Festival Francs so you can purchase wine and food at all the sites. Only Festival Francs can be used to purchase wine and food. 1 nz dollar = 1 festival franc.
Here’s how it works:
We use a cashless, hands free AWOP wristband payment system at Toast– much like a Snapper Card, but way cooler. Once you’ve exchanged your ticket for a wristband, glass and programme in The Square, head to a bank tent (in The Square, or at any of the festival sites) and load up your wristband with festival francs, paying by cash, credit card or eftpos (Amex and cheques not accepted).
Once you have Festival Francs on your wristband, you can purchase food and drink. At each point of sale a Toast server will key in the number of the item you are purchasing into their scanner, then swipe your wristband chip deducting that amount from your balance. At any time you can ask for a balance on your Festival Franc account. All festival sites have a bank available to top up your wristband with more francs if needed.
Refunds
Here’s the best bit. You can get a cash refund ONLY from the bank in The Square on the day of Toast until 7pm, or online up to 4 weeks after the event (until December 17 2019) at awop.co.nz using the registration number on the back of the wristband chip, you can get your money transferred back on to your card. So don’t throw away the wristband at the end of the Toast day if you do have francs left! You’ll need that registration number on the back of the chip to be able to refund your money to your account.
