Locals needed for Apple and Grape 2022

Stanthorpe''s Apple and Grape Festival is one of Queensland''s longest running and most successful festivals.

By Jess Baker

Stanthorpe’s Apple and Grape Festival is one of Queensland’s longest running and most successful festivals.

Planning has begun for Stanthorpe’s famous biennial Apple and Grape Harvest Festival, and organisers say it is set to be a celebration like no other.

More than 60,000 people are expected to flood the town for 10 days of good wine, good food, and good fun – an exciting prospect for locals still reeling from the damage inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 2022 event will offer a mix of old favourites and new experiences, including the iconic Grape Crushing Championship, an Italian Long Lunch, a food and wine fiesta in the park, a Grand Parade, markets and more.

Newly appointed festival president, Russell Wantling, said the directors’ immediate goal is getting local people and organisations involved.

“We really want as many people from the community as possible to get involved,” Russell said.

“We want to bring the festival back to the community-based event it started as.”

Not only will the 2022 festival go down as Stanthorpe’s biggest event since Covid-19 shut Australia’s borders, it also happens to coincide with a monumental birthday – Granite Belt’s 150th.

This extraordinary milestone warrants an extraordinary celebration, and Russell said committees will need hundreds of volunteers to make it happen.

“Everyone involved in the past has done a fantastic job, we’re just looking to brighten it up a bit in 2022,” Russell said.

Tourism and events strategist for the 2020 Apple and Grape Festival, Krista Hauritz, is one example of this. She has done so well, in fact, that she was recently awarded the title ‘Best Achievement in Marketing, Communication or Sponsorship’ for her work.

Given 2021 is an ‘off year’, Apple and Grape Directors are planning another, smaller event for March. Russell said the event will include busking on the Saturday and a banquet lunch on the Sunday, giving visitors an opportunity to “taste the Granite Belt” before the next major festival.