It’s Cherrylicious – Tasty, Tasty!

The Hilltops Region is gearing up for what promises to be a bumper cherry crop this year. Like so many beloved activities, our Cherry Festival will be different this year due to COVID-19 precautions, but this does not detract from our joyful cherry harvest.

The wonderful team at the Hilltops Council have assembled a range of activities for locals and tourists alike under the banner of the ‘Summer Cherry Harvest Passport 2020’. What this involves is a passport that outlines local cherry orchards that enable visitors to undertake a number of activities, including picking their own cherries. This is a truly delightful activity for young and old, as evidenced by one orchard participant last year, “We took our grand-daughter Willow, aged two, and grandson Connor, aged three, to an orchard to pick cherries. Little Willow ended up eating many more than she put into her pail, and we were very fortunate that before and after weighing of participants did not take place! Even though the children were so young, they still talk about what a wonderful experience it was”.

For those who prefer to buy cherries rather than pick them, the passport lists orchards where pre-harvested cherries are available. Other activities include open cellar doors, where the opportunity to taste and purchase some of our award-winning wines is available. The passport also outlines additional activities such as art exhibitions, the 23rd Annual Cherry Festival Photographic Competition and Exhibition, the Young Cherry Festival Veterans’ Week of Golf, and the hanging of the quilts at the Millard Centre.Markets will also be operational in towns around the region including Young, Wombat and Boorowa.

The passport is already available to be downloaded from the following website: https://nationalcherryfestival.com.au/cherry-harvest-2020/.

Hardcopies of the passport will be available shortly from all Visitors’ Centres, shops and motels. The activities have already started, so it’s strongly recommended that we all check them out and get them penciled onto our calendars. As for little Willow and Connor, they will be amongst the cherry pickers this year – just keep your eye out for the little girl with cherry juice on her dress.

• Topics:

• National Cherry Festival