THE committee for Macarthur’s annual music event, ‘Music in the Vines’ hosted at the local vineyard, Suffoir Winery, Brewery, and Distillery, has called time after eight years and five festivals.

The vineyard’s owners, Pieter and Michelle Badenhorst, and a host of local volunteers worked tirelessly to bring in headline acts like Troy Cassar-Daley and Russell Morris, which attracted hundreds of people to the summer festival every year since it began in 2016.

The focus had always been to give back to the community with the event a successful community fundraiser, with profits each year donated to multiple local organisations, such as sporting clubs, the fire brigade and the Macarthur Swimming Pool.

Ms Badenhorst said although it was a sad decision to make after all the hard work everyone had put into the festivals every year, rather than risk seeing numbers decline, they wanted to go out on a high.

“Initially it was really to offer Macarthur something - something of value to put Macarthur on the map,” she said.

“I think we’ve been successful in doing that.

“The first year we had just over 300 people and the most we counted was 1500.”

She said, they always made a point of bringing in a headline act and then filling up the rest of the event with local acts and emerging talent.

“It’s been great for giving local musicians some exposure,” she said.

“The first year Troy (Cassar-Daley) invited local girl, Kayla Dwyer up on stage and they performed together - that was a real highlight for her.”

However, she said like many organisations, recruiting volunteers to commit to the countless hours required to coordinate a huge event, combined with soaring costs, made its viability increasingly challenging.

“It was really a lot of hard work - the committee worked very hard,” she said.

“A lot of planning goes into an event like this.

“But at the end of the day we just needed more volunteers.”

She said the remaining $15,000 funds in the kitty would be divided between a mix of 23 community groups and local organisations in Macarthur – “everything from the Lions Club, Macarthur Pony Club and the sporting clubs.”

She said although it was sad to say farewell to the festival, this year’s donation was a silver lining and had been made possible by every person who supported Music in the Vines

Ms Badenhorst said she and her husband were very grateful for all the committee’s hard work and the support of the local community in running the event every year.

“One year we had to pull the pin the night before due to a total fire ban,” she said.

“Then we had the years of COVID.”

However, Ms Badenhorst said the 3910 people who attended the festival from all over Victoria, the 35 artists and groups who also gave 16 emerging artists the opportunity to showcase their talents was testament to the event’s success.

“We’ve really enjoyed the journey of being involved in Music in the Vines,” she said.

“Pieter moved from South Africa to Hamilton for work 14 years ago and then I moved here from The Netherlands.

“Music in the Vines helped us find our way and to make friends in Macarthur.

“It’s a great little town where everyone knows your name.”

Ms Badenhorst thanked all the artists who brought so much joy to the ‘Vines’ over the years, and to the vendors, who kept crowds happy with their food, art, crafts and treats.

She thanked all the volunteers - the locals who spent countless hours planning, running the community bar, working the gate, the car park, the green room, running and growing the festival each year - all for the benefit of others.