The Tontitown Grape Festival is one of the oldest and largest festivals west of the Mississippi River
TONTITOWN, ARK. – For 125 years, the Tontitown, Ark., community has gathered to fellowship, eat spaghetti, and celebrate community. The 125th Tontitown Grape Festival is Aug. 6 to 10 in Tontitown.
While the festival has grown to include all of Northwest Arkansas and has many more components involved, the foundations remain the same as it was more than a century ago: It’s a time to connect with other generations and the rest of the community, and a time to celebrate the grape harvest.
Alice Walker, who has helped in planning the Tontitown Grape Festival for the last 25 years, explained that the founders tried 150 different kinds of grapes before deciding that the Concord grape was best for their needs. What started as a picnic in June, quickly was moved to August to correspond with the grape harvest.
“August found the Italians with a harvest to celebrate with a mass of Thanksgiving in the little Church (St. Joseph Parish). They sang and danced. The women served the tastiest meals their meager provisions would allow. From that first frolic in the woods in 1898 stemmed the Tontitown Festival of today,” according to the festival’s website.
The festival remained in various forms and really took off and expanded in the 1920s. To read the festival history is, in part, reading the history of the community.
“Tontitown had been holding their Grape Festivals for approximately 25 years now (in 1924). It had grown to include Holy Mass, booths, games, as well as carnivals provided by White River Red, a dance, sometimes a pageant, and of course, that wonderful Italian food. This festival began to draw a crowd from surrounding communities and was quite well known,” the website reads. “ In 1932, Tontitown was again the only community providing a Grape Festival. That year they expanded to a three-day event, and for the first time in their festival, selected a Queen by vote, Albina Montegani. This was also the year that Tontitown began to serve those famous Italian Spaghetti dinners to the public.”
The spaghetti dinners and grape ice cream continue to draw crowds year after year.
“These are the recipes that their great grandmothers did,” Alice said of the spaghetti. “We have people bringing their grandchildren now to help make the pasta. They are starting to make the pasta now in July. There’s young kids pulling the spaghetti and their grandmothers did the same.”
Festival planners continue to offer something interesting for all ages. Admission and parking continues to be free. “We have something for everyone,” Alice said.
The entertainment includes a variety of local and bigger acts and a blend of genres. “We’ve had southern rock and country, we’ve have a western swing band, the blues, folks music, and bluegrass,” Alice said. “We try to make it a family-oriented event.”
Another popular part of the festival is the grape stomp, which is done two days of the festival. Organizers were able to bring it back about 20 years ago with the help of Arvest Bank as a sponsor. There is also a Run for the Grapes on the last day of the festival. It’s a 5K and half-mile kid fun run.
“Where else can you stomp grapes?” she said. “It makes you feel like a kid again.”
Throughout the festival, people can browse the arts and crafts booths, meet the fair queen contestants, and ride the carnival rides. And, of course, chow down on some famous Tontitown spaghetti and grape ice cream.
The Concordia festival queen is another popular contest for not only the three young ladies competing, but the community at large. The queen candidates vie for the crown by selling raffle tickets to the festival grand prize. The queen that sells the most tickets wins. The winner of the raffle gets a nice prize; this year it’s a 2024 Ford Bronco.
“They sell tickets for three weeks all over Northwest Arkansas,” Alice said.
Whether you’re buying a handcrafted item, riding the ferris wheel, or eating spaghetti, patrons are able to experience the same camaraderie and fun as the town’s ancestors.
“The point is to continue the tradition,” Alice said. “We are one of the oldest and largest festivals west of the Mississippi. As the world gets busier, this event gets larger.
“Everyone’s Italian for a week.”
For more information, visit tontitowngrapefestival.com.
