TONTITOWN -- The annual Grape Festival scheduled for Aug. 4-8 has been canceled because of the covid-19 pandemic, according to a news release from a festival representative.
This year was to be the 122nd festival.
"Due to the changing circumstances and unforeseen future due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we feel this decision must be made in order to protect the safety of both our volunteers and attendees," according to the news release.
The event was to include the traditional spaghetti dinners, grape stomp, live entertainment, 5K Run for the Grapes and an arts and crafts fair, among other activities, according to the festival's website.
Italian Catholic immigrants founded Tontitown in 1898 and started the festival, which began as a thanksgiving picnic observed annually by Catholic families at the end of June, according to the Central Arkansas Library System Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
The celebration was moved to August to coincide with the grape harvest in 1913 when Tontitown farmers became well-known for their vineyards.
NW News on 05/21/2020