By JESSE GRAHAM
FOR a gratuitous graze of local produce and a weekend of entertainment and delicacies, there’s just one week left to wait as an iconic event resurfaces from a five-year break.
The Yarra Valley Grape Grazing Festival will return to the area after five years from 14-16 February, featuring more than 60 events scattered through wineries, towns and shops in the area.
Throughout the weekend, many of the wineries on the Warburton, Melba and Maroondah Highway will be taking part in the festival, with special events and live music to keep visitors entertained, satisfied and full.
Degustation dinners, master-classes, balloon flights, live entertainment and the best of the region’s wines, beers, ciders and produce are all part-and-parcel when it comes to the festival.
Key events in the Grape Grazing line-up include a performance by Jimmy Barnes at Rochford Winery on Saturday 15 February, in an A Day on the Green show.
For those after a tastier experience, Healesville’s main street will open up on the Saturday morning with a big breakfast event.
Cafes, restaurants and retail outlets will be offering special menus and deals and a free coffee to every Grape Grazing Weekend Pass holders with their breakfast.
The breakfast event will run from 8am to noon along the main street of Healesville, with white umbrellas indicating participating outlets.
There are innumerable options and more than a weekend’s worth of places to go for Grape Grazing visitors, and most of the events can be accessed using the $25 weekend pass.
The pass provides visitors with a lanyard, a bottle of water and a wine goblet.
The lanyard must be worn to gain entry to venues – children under the age of 12 get free entry, but must be accompanied by adults at all times.
The event, which began in 1988, drew more than 20,000 people in its peak times, but was put on hold after the 2009 event, which was held in April after the Black Saturday bushfires tore through the area.
For more information on events, special deals and conditions of entry, and an opportunity to book tickets, visit www.grapegrazing.com.au, email info@grapegrazing.com.au or call 9730 2447.
