“This is the only war worth having and this year’s will be better than ever,” festival ambassador Noeline Brown said.

Ms Brown joined Tourism Southern Highlands manager Steve Rosa at Bou-saada Winery yesterday officially opening the two-week festival, which will feature a series of open gardens, workshops, exhibitions and special events.

This year’s major highlights will include the Art Studio Trail, A Singing Quilt performance, and Fling in the Vines.

The trail has been organised by Wingecarribee Council’s Jenny Kena and will feature 60 artists and artisans exhibiting their works at 15 local studios from Colo Vale through to Robertson. The studios will be open free to the public from 9am to 5pm this Saturday and Sunday.

“We have so many famous, talented people here and they all tend to go unnoticed so the Art Studio Trail is a fantastic opportunity to show people just how strong the Highlands’ art community is,” Ms Brown said.

Also on this weekend will be Robertson composer Andrew Ford’s A Singing Quilt, to be performed at two concerts in Bundanoon on Saturday.

Ford interviewed a series of local people about their time in the Highlands to create the lyrics for his mass choir production.

For the full story see the Southern Highland News, Wednesday, October 29

claire.mitchell@ruralpres s.com