Great weather, crowds, wine and food at annual festival

IDEAL weather conditions brought the crowds to the annual Heathcote Wine and Food Festival last weekend, hosted by the Heathcote Winegrowers Association at the showgrounds.

Numbers were up on last year’s attendance with more than 1400 visitors went through the gates on Saturday

“We had a terrific day on Saturday,” said president of the Winegrowers Association, Ian Hopkins.

 

“It was a beautiful weekend with crowds storming through and numbers well up on last year.

“Everyone enjoyed themselves and the vendors all reported great sales.”

Visitors sampled local wines and spirits, tasted treats from a range of food vendors, danced to music and played lawn games.

 

Deniz Karaca from Cuvée Chocolate, a bean to bar chocolate maker based in Melbourne, has been coming to the festival for ten years.

“It is good festival with a warm family vibe,” he said.

“It’s nice to come back year after year and catch up with the other vendors.

 

“Lots of locals support the festival, which is great to see, and visitors from further away come back year after year.”

Sisters Kristen Learmonth and Danielle Marke grew up near Kyabram and now live in Melbourne.

 

“We came for the whole weekend and also visited the Heathcote Market on Saturday before coming to the festival,” said Ms Marke.

“It was great for the organisers to see a huge crowd on Saturday, but we enjoyed the quieter, more relaxed atmosphere on Sunday.”