Programme 01
Māra Kai
Community food gardens that put hands in the soil and kai on the table — building food resilience, one neighbourhood plot at a time.
[ X ] gardens supported
The Foundation
Garden Ōtepoti is the public face of a not-for-profit with deep roots in Dunedin. The festival is our front gate — but the real work carries on all year.
Why we exist
What the festival raises isn't a profit — it's a seed. As a registered charitable trust, every dollar we can spare goes back into the things that make a garden city thrive.
We believe gardens do more than look beautiful. They feed people, teach children, connect neighbours, and hold the living heritage of the South. The Foundation exists to make sure that work continues long after the last open garden closes its gate for the season.
Community harvest, Ōtepoti
Where your support goes
Every gift grows across three programmes — chosen because they last.
Community food gardens that put hands in the soil and kai on the table — building food resilience, one neighbourhood plot at a time.
Hands-in-the-soil learning for tamariki and schools, so the next generation grows up knowing how to grow.
Conserving the South's heritage plants and heirloom seeds — keeping rare, regionally-adapted varieties alive and in circulation.
Sponsor a Seed
Some of the South's most treasured plants are quietly disappearing. For the price of a couple of coffees, you can keep one growing — and become its named guardian.
Sponsor a heritage variety and we'll grow it, save its seed, and share it with community gardens and the next generation of southern gardeners. You'll get a certificate, the variety's story, and the quiet satisfaction of knowing it won't be lost on your watch.
One of Dunedin's signature blooms. variety TBC
A vegetable that thrives in the cooler South. variety TBC
A cottage-garden flower worth saving. variety TBC
Ways to give
Give once, give monthly, or leave something that outlives us all. Amounts & donation flow to be connected
Regular giving
Legacy giving
Our promise
"Dunedin is a magnet for visitors — an iconic garden destination, a botanical centre of excellence." — Sophie Barker, Mayor of Dunedin & Festival Ambassador
Figures to be confirmed as programmes launch.
Accountable & transparent
Garden Ōtepoti is delivered by the Taste Nature Social Enterprise Charitable Trust — a registered charity (CC59242), with annual returns filed and a board forming to support the festival as it scales. We operate under five foundational principles: People, Planet, Profit, Integrity and Leadership.
Join the people growing the future of the South — one garden, one child, one seed at a time.