Celebrating the heart of the community

When we launched our South Island Country Pub of the Year competition last month in association with Service Foods, it was about far more than just finding the best place for a cold one or a good feed.

Country pubs are an integral part of rural communities. They are unassuming, unsung, and quintessentially Kiwi. We wanted to highlight that.

While only one pub could take out the top spot in our South Island Country Pub of the Year Competition, every single one nominated is a winner in our books.

We had more than 5000 votes, a testament to how much communities cherish these cornerstones of the community that that have witnessed generations of stories.

Many romances have been kindled over a beer in these often-historic establishments. Friendships have been forged, rugby games celebrated, bark-ups held, and problems quietly hashed out over a pint and a pie.

 These are the places where laughter comes easily, where news travels fast, and where the welcome is always warm.

You don’t need to be invited. You don’t need to dress up. All you need to do? Show up.

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg had a name for places like these. He called them “third places,” the social spaces that exist between home and work.

 Home is the first place, work the second, and the third is where life happens in between. It is the café, the clubroom, the community hall, or, in much of rural New Zealand, the local pub.

Oldenburg believed third places are vital for wellbeing and connection. They are neutral ground, open to everyone, where conversation is the main event and social status fades into the background.

In small towns, the pub often becomes the last true public meeting place, somewhere to belong, to be heard, and to reconnect after a long week.

That sense of connection has never mattered more.

Across the country, rural families face growing challenges, from financial pressure to isolation and mental health strain.

 While the Rural Support Trust and other organisations do invaluable work, sometimes the first and most important conversation happens across a pub table.

Country pubs are the informal social hubs of rural New Zealand.

 They host the fundraisers, the quiz nights, the farewells, and the quiet check-ins that keep communities stitched together.

In a show of resilience, many of these pubs are evolving.

Some now double as cafés or live music venues, others have added accommodation or have reinvented themselves to stay afloat.

 But their essence remains the same. They are the places where people still meet face to face, where stories are told and retold, and where everyone is welcome.

So, while one pub wears the crown this year, we raise a glass to all our nominees, the true champions of community spirit.

They keep the lights on, the laughter flowing, and the connections strong in the places that need them most.

So, cheers to the country pub, the original third place, and still the best one of all.