The Stanthorpe Apple and Grape Harvest Festival has been confirmed amongst the best events in Australia with the announcement of National Finalists in the 2020 Australian Event Awards.
The 10 days of harvest celebrations wrapped up on 8 March 2020, fortunately slipping in as Queensland’s last major festival to be held before the Covid-19 restrictions changed the game for events.
It’s one of Queensland’s longest running and most successful festivals, ‘crushing it’ since 1966 with its foot-stomping, grape-crushing harvest celebrations.
Event industry leaders and experts from around Australia who judge the Awards have read through hundreds of entries and determined that Stanthorpe Apple and Grape Harvest Festival deserved to sit amongst the National Finalists.
Entries are judged on all aspects of event management including best practice, innovation, marketing, stakeholder engagement and management, sustainability and event legacy.
Across the board, 2020 was a very high scoring year.
In fact, Brenda LaPorte, co-chair of the Judging Panel, reported that “the entries put forward for judging on average scored significantly higher than last year”.
“This is an incredible result knowing what the industry has been through in 2020,” Brenda said this week.
“It clearly reflects the high quality of the events delivered across Australia and what we have to look forward to when our industry makes its comeback.”
Festival president Max Hunter said in 2020 the Stanthorpe Apple and Grape Harvest Festival brought a $2 million boost to Stanthorpe “at a time when we really needed it most”.
“The Granite Belt was doing it especially tough over summer with drought and bushfire causing a downturn in both tourism and agriculture,” Max said.
“Our community pulled together and hosted another amazing harvest celebration and on top of the economic boost, it lifted community spirits.”
Australian Event Award Winners will be announced in October. More information is available on the Event Awards website www.eventawards.com.au
• The Biennial Stanthorpe Apple and Grape Harvest Festival will be next held in March 2022.
