- Grav Weldon
It’s been a fun evening, to say the least. Today’s assignment — the Altus Grape Festival. Each year folks come out in droves for lots of grape-centric fun. There’s a grape pie eating contest, amateur winemaker competition, wine sampling ($3 for the glass and as many 1 ounce samples as you want to enjoy from the area’s four wineries) and of course grape stomping.
It’s the latter I really wanted to try tonight. Earlier in the week disappointment had set in, though. I’d called up and asked about being able to stomp Friday night (I have another assignment Saturday in Heber Springs) but was told that the only grape stomping Friday would be a celebrity grape stomping, and it was full. Well, fair enough.
My photographer and I got into Altus as the festival was kicking off early this evening. The temperatures were still in the upper 90s and all around we noticed people seated and fanning themselves. But there was a lot of fun going on. The kids were playing on inflatable air toys and on the playground and swings. There was a lot of opportunity for shopping for arts and crafts and tie-dye t-shirts. There was grilling and smoking and concessions and live music, another great Arkansas festival underway.