Have a Picnic at Hanging Rock

Something I found on the web. I've modified the article slightly.

It's picnic time at Hanging Rock

BY KATE NANCARROW of the Sunday Age, Sunday Feb. 9, 1997.

HANGING ROCK - thanks to that mystery fictional disappearance and the book and film portraying it - just may be the best known picnic venue in the world.

But while that original picnic, during which the three schoolgirls and their teacher vanished, was set in the distant past, `The Age' Harvest Picnic at Hanging Rock, to be held next Sunday, 23 February, is a major event of today.

It is an event that draws picnickers from as far afield as Alice Springs, attracting more than 30,000 people each year to the grounds around the famous rock.

And, of course, it is more than an event. It is a gourmet picnic that has become a festival - a festival of food, wine and entertainment in the most authentic of Australian settings.

Food? Feast might be more accurate because the 100-plus stalls offer everything from soft, warm bread to exotic fruits and vegetables to fresh fish, meats and preserves. It's food aplenty and food with a difference.

Wines? Well, there are table wines, sparking wines, fortified wines, berry wines and honey meads, plus a full selection of reds and whites and even what is believed to be Australia's only cabernet franc rose.

Entertainment? It's non-stop all day with roving buskers, jazz musicians, a new production from the Australian Ballet School, the Re-Enactment Society re-staging Ned Kelly's trial and hanging, ice carving by staff from the new Crown Towers Hotel and the ever-popular Humphrey B. Bear for the children.

A feature this year will be cooking demonstrations by the Gas and Fuel Corporation.

The Harvest Picnic this year celebrates its 10th anniversary with three Victorian Tourism Awards for Significant Local Festivals (the latest last year) to its credit.

It is a festival for the people - but it also gives Victoria's food and wine producers the opportunity to showcase their gourmet products to buyers and decision-makers from the major food retailing companies.
The producers have to meet the highest standards, which are also insisted upon by the Picnic convenors, the Harvest Picnic Foundation, a non-profit organisation set up in 1988 with funds provided by the Victoria Council of the Australian Bicentennial Authority.

The picnic was originally conceived as a one-off event for the Bicentenary but the first one - held that year outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground - was so successful it became an annual event. Previous venues have included Ripponlea and Werribee Park.

But it is Hanging Rock that provides an atmosphere of its own - and it is atmosphere that makes the Harvest Picnic so outstandingly successful, according to the foundation director, Peter Bahen.

``The Harvest Picnic's success has spawned a host of others in recent years but we like to think the Harvest Picnic is unique,'' Mr Bahen said.

``You only get this kind of atmosphere when people are having the best of times - and we ensure that by the quality of the food and wine available and by the great diversity of entertainment.''

Of course, it doesn't just happen. Planning for the next year's Harvest Picnic begins immediately the previous one is over.

And such is the Picnic's success that the foundation is inundated with requests for stands throughout the years. The strict criteria means many are disappointed.

The simple truth is that until the Harvest Picnic moved there four years ago, Hanging Rock was an under-utilised venue.

There is, of course, the highly popular Hanging Rock race meeting on New Years Day but little else to capitalize on the mystical bush setting. The Harvest Picnic Foundation's decision to transfer the event there has changed that and added significantly to the region's visitor numbers.

``The concept couldn't be simpler,'' Peter Bahen said. ``The work has all been done for the picnickers.

``They simply have to turn up with their rug and perhaps some cushions and sunscreen and it's all here - plenty of sampling available and food and drink at very competitive prices.''

Although many picnickers come from interstate for the event, it is Melbourne that has taken the Harvest Picnic to its heart.

``We estimate 70 per cent of the visitors are from Melbourne - but that's not surprising: city people love to get out into the country for a picnic,'' Mr Bahen says.

Indeed, not even persistent rain dampened the enthusiasm three years ago when an early-morning downpour was a portent of things to come.

``I was devastated as I drove to Hanging Rock that year,'' Mr Bahen recalls. ''The rain kept tumbling down but the crowds kept rolling up. Picnickers are a hardy breed.''

The Age Harvest Picnic will be held next Sunday, 23 February, from 9am until 5pm.

WHAT IT COSTS: Admission is $12 for adults, $8 concession; children under 15 free. Parking is supervised.

WHERE IS IT? Hanging Rock is about 75km north-west of Melbourne - an hour's drive. Simply take the Calder Highway to Woodend and follow the signs.