Why The Village Harvest Harkens Back A Different Era

Autumn's crispness is in the air and the 10th anniversary of the Kingston Harvest Festival is blowing into Bicentennial Park, Chelsea on Saturday 7 May, bringing all things fresh, green, sustainable and local.

"It's bringing a little bit of the country to Kingston. Traditionally, harvest festivals — which have been around for hundreds of years — have been about the harvest and how village life depended on the harvest," says event spokesperson Tracy Cheeseman. "It's picking up some of that green country feel to it, when we used to make our own produce, we might have reused things rather than [throw] things away, so it's harking back to a different era."

Aside from catching local country, blues and rockabilly bands as well as the works of big names such as Stonefield, festival goers can sample the harvest fare — from fresh jams, seeds, preserves and boiled sweets, showcases from the local community garden and the plethora of food trucks: "We've got some really interesting food trucks: Turkish gozleme, Brazilian BBQ store, Spanish paella, vegan and vegetarian options, a whole heap."

Some activity highlights, also with a sustainability focus, include billycart making from reusable materials, kids activities such as 'sprout head'-making as well as line dancing workshops and duck herding demonstrations.