In the archives of Vintage Festivals past, there have been some pretty epic after parties.
Once, people in their thousands gathered at Tanunda Oval, to celebrate the conclusion of the Vintage Festival Parade and continue with a day of festivities – one big community party for everyone.
These days, things are a bit different, with a plethora of Festival events sprinkled across the region, yet still, treasured memories of those big gatherings at the oval remain, something Festival Co-Directors Maz McGann and Rebecca Reynolds were keen to tap into.
“It’s something that in the Festival of old has always been part of the program,” said Maz. “When you ask people about their memories that’s one that comes up really, really frequently. They’d say, we’d all go down to the oval and there would be this big party, and so we were really keen to reintroduce that and bring that back.
“I don’t think we’re going to be quite at the scale that it’s been in the past, like some of the old photos of that are massive, probably 10,000 people – we’ll be happy to get about 2,000!”
Whoever does choose to stick around at Tanunda Recreation Park after the parade on April 26, will be treated to free live music, children’s activities, food vendors, and the ‘Old Favourites, New Discoveries’ wine village, featuring Jacob’s Creek and a collection of six small and emerging winemakers.
“Jacob’s Creek is obviously the main wine sponsor, so they’ll be there, but it was around also providing opportunities for small producers too, because they don’t have the capacity or the infrastructure to put on an event within the program themselves,”
Maz explained of the wine village concept.
“They don’t have cellar doors, they don’t have teams of staff, it’s usually a solo or a couple, so it was about, how do we provide them with a moment in the sun as part of something that should be celebrating the whole of the wine industry?”
The Parade After Party will also incorporate the Teddy Bear’s Picnic and The Big Sing, and just provide a relaxed, fun environment to soak up the vintage atmosphere, hopefully creating lasting memories for a new generation of festival-goers.
“It is very much around affordability and a family friendly event, because the Vintage Festival is intrinsically a cultural activity for the people that live here,” said Maz.
“It’s a celebration, it’s a time to come together, so it’s very much around providing that. You can come for free, you can bring your own picnic lunch, lie on the rug and listen to some music, all day if you want to.”
