Grape Grazing Festival supports CFA

To celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Yarra Valley Grape Grazing Festival, participating wineries are joining forces to raise money for CFA's Maroondah Group and the Healesville Victorian State Emergency Services (SES). They hope to raise $50,000.

For the first time in its 21 year history, the Grape Grazing Festival will be organising a raffle to win a year’s supply of wine – 52 dozen bottles - which will be supplied by participating wineries, with all funds going directly to CFA and SES.

This year's Grape Grazing Festival will be held from the 9th - 18th February. With over 20,000 people anticipated to visit the Yarra Valley during the weekend of 16 – 17 February, the event relies heavily on the support of local emergency services to assist with crowd control and traffic direction.

Executive Chairman of the Grape Grazing Festival, Michael Matthews, said it was important for the Yarra Valley wine industry to contribute to the ongoing efforts of the predominately volunteer-based emergency services in the region.

“The Grape Grazing Festival has been operating in the Yarra Valley for over two decades and we really wanted to find a way to give something back to the region that has supported us during this time.

“As a regional area, CFA and SES provide essential services to our community and we think this is a terrific way to contribute to these worthy organisations,” Michael said.

Maroondah Group CFA Group Controller Ken Reed said any money raised in the raffle will be used to purchase a command vehicle. "At the moment, we have to borrow one from a neighbouring brigade, so we are extremely grateful for the efforts of the Yarra Valley Grape Grazing Festival in supporting our services in the local community."

For more information on the Grape Grazing Festival, including other raffle prizes and how to buy tickets, phone (03) 5962 6600 or visit www.grapegrazing.com.au.