For more than a decade the infamous Griffith Vintage Festival has lain dormant, an urban legend celebrating all of the best the city had to offer, but on Thursday a shock announcement has pulled it from the past.
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As part of an updated unWINEd Riverina Event program for 2017, the Riverina Winemakers’ Association announced it would be resurrecting the festival, now scheduled for the upcoming Easter Saturday.
A fond memory featuring in many locals’ minds Carrah Lymer said this year’s Vintage Festival would not only be about showcasing the region’s quality foods and wines but a chance to share part of Griffith’s cultural history with a new crowd.
“We have a completely different generation who haven’t experienced the vintage festival yet,” she said.
“Our focus as the Riverina Winemakers’ Association this year is to increase the awareness of the Riverina wine region and to put Griffith back on the map as a food and wine destination with marquee events like this.”
In October the Griffith community was devastated following news La Festa had not only been cancelled, but put on hold indefinitely, after a lack of volunteers and diminishing time frame made pulling it together impossible.
But while many said it couldn’t be done, Ms Lymer and a team of local wineries forged ahead, with hard work finally paying off on Thursday as they confirmed the event would go ahead.
“The local wine and food industry here is really passionate about what they are doing and it wasn’t hard to find support for this,” Ms Lymer said. “But it is still a massive job and we will be needing volunteers to help out on the day.”
The Griffith Vintage Festival will be held April 15 on the grounds of the Old Miranda Wines building, tickets can be purchased online and volunteers can become involved by contacting online@unwined.com.au.
UnWINEd will also host other events in 2017, including a ladies wine society soiree in June, the Riverina Wine Show Awards in September and the wine and food twilight markets in November.
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