Not even rain could keep a crowd of 4500 seafood lovers away from the Whitianga Scallop Festival held at the weekend.

It is being hailed as a success by organisers and a superb way for the festival to celebrate its 10^th birthday.

The Whitianga Scallop Festival held at the weekend has been hailed a huge success by organisers with about 4500 people attending.

The festival is one of the country's most popular annual seafood events and this year sold out event saw 60 cuisine stands creating mouth-watering dishes for the punters.

Whitianga Scallop Festival chairperson Linda Bird is extremely pleased with how everything went.

She estimates they would have gone through '10s, if not hundreds, of thousands” of scallops, describing them as 'fat, fluffy and full of flavour”.

'It was brilliant, we had a very happy and well behaved crowd who just enjoyed the food, the music and the fun.

'I looked after the main gate and I saw many smiley faces and some hilarious costumes coming through.

'The crowd really enjoyed their day and many have said they would be back for next year's festival.”

Festival goers not only enjoyed themselves at the event but also took their enthusiasm to local eateries, with many restaurants being 'completely chocka packed”.

The festival continues to be a great event that showcases the Mercury Bay's seafood, sights and sounds, plus local community organisations and businesses.

In the coming weeks the association will debrief stall holders but passing comments Linda has received so far have been glowingly positive.

Compared with previous years, the 2014 event was one of the smoother operations and a lot of credit must go to events coordinator Fiona Kettlewell, says Linda.

'This was her third year coordinating the event and Fiona has done an absolutely fantastic job.

'Despite the weather he had a really smooth operation in terms of setup and how things ran throughout the day.”

On behalf of the business association Linda would like to thank all the punters who braved the weather to enjoy the festival.

'I want to thank the sponsors too, it is their help and support that allows us to hold this fantastic festival year in and out.”