Seasons of New England in Uralla showcases New England produce

“Just look at the turnout,” Cr Pearce said from the Hampden Park venue on Saturday morning. “I had to park up near the church, that’s always an indicator that there’s heaps and heaps of people here, and it’s lovely to see and there’s so many visitors here too.”

Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall – who is also the tourism minister – was nearby, and was predicting the attendance would surpass 5000, which was a big increase on the 3500 who have attended in recent years.

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Among the stallholders were producers, makers and creators, providing a one-day snapshot of what comes out of the New England region to the thousands of people who came through the gate.

As well as hot food and fresh produce, there was wine and spirits, small goods, candles and soft furnishings on offer from the 115 stallholders who came from as far north as Tenterfield, south to Tamworth, west to Inverell and east to Dorrigo.

This is the sixth year the showcase of local produce and products has been held, which also includes musicians from the region, and organiser Tara Toomey has been there since the event started, and seen it grow.

“We try and market it as far as we can outside the New England, to try and tell everyone that this is a good chance to come and check it out, and hopefully it drives a lot of return visits,” Mrs Toomey said.

Retail giants from Sydney, Brisbane and Newcastle also attend to scout new and niche products to take to their clients.

Mrs Toomey said the attendance has grown every year, with the showcase moving from the showground to the sporting oval closer to the CBD.

“We do have a lot of overseas visitors, and I’m told people plan their trip around it, which is a great comfort to us that it’s so appealing.

“But also, we get a lot from Brisbane and Queensland and a lot from Sydney and Newcastle. We’re getting a lot more from the Hunter Valley and a lot of coastal (visitors),” she said.

The event got support from the state government, who tipped in $20,000 this year and Mr Marshall was pleased to see the massive crowd.

“I haven’t seen it this big,” Mr Marshall said.

“And why wouldn’t you want to come and enjoy this? In a very small space you can sample the best produce from the New England region, whether it be the beautiful ginger beer or something with a bit more strength to it, and some of the beautiful foods.

“This is a great advertisement for our New England region.”

Meanwhile, Uralla’s mayor was spruiking that it showed that such big events were not just the domain of New England’s cities.

“It really cements our place in the area,” Cr Pearce said. “It’s a very unique, niche market type of area here. We might be smaller than places like Armidale and Tamworth, but we’re just as big at heart.”