Italian Heritage Still Honored at Tontitown Grape Festival

The 120th Tontitown Grape Festival begins Tuesday on U.S. 412 west of Springdale with an evening of carnival rides, free live entertainment and a grape stomp. The festival will continue through Aug. 11 with other activities and food highlighting the town's Italian heritage, including the festival's infamous grape ice cream.

Hundreds of volunteers organize and staff the annual event benefiting St. Joseph Catholic Church and the community, says Alice Walker, the festival's communications and marketing director. The festival commemorates the local Italian settlers' harvest celebration, which dates back to 1898.

Some volunteers belong to the same family line as these settlers, and they take pride in the longstanding tradition, Walker says.

"There are so many generations of families that work on this event together, and that's what makes everything work," Walker says. "From the cooks in the kitchen to the kids picking up trash, they do it because they're honoring tradition."

Since 1898 the celebration has grown to add the crowning of a Queen Concordia, Italian spaghetti dinners, a car giveaway, carnival rides and an arts and crafts fair, Walker says. Volunteers served approximately 10,000 Italian spaghetti dinners last year to locals and people from across the globe.

"We get people who come from Italy every year -- relatives of some of the original families," Walker says.

A plate of spaghetti, fried chicken, an Italian salad, homemade roll and a drink costs $12 for adults and $6 for children. Tontitown and Post wineries will sell wine separately, Walker says.

Admission to the festival is free. Carnival armbands range from $20 to $25, depending on the day, and those who want to participate in the Run for the Grapes on Aug. 11 must pay to register on site or online at tontitowngrapefestival.com.

-- Andrea Johnson

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NAN What's Up on 08/03/2018