The Granny Smith Festival began in 1985 and is now regarded as one of Sydney’s largest street festivals, a true community carnival, full of colour and good old fashioned fun, attracting over 90,000 each year.
The festival celebrates the life and legacy of Maria Ann Smith – aka Granny Smith – who, back in 1868, ‘accidentally’ grew the first batch of little green apples that bear her name and are now grown all over the world.
Sadly due to the ongoing covid pandemic, the Granny Smith Festival won’t be able to go ahead as usual…. but you can still have some a-peel-ing fun.
| Shoebox Float Competition and Parade | Cooking Classes | Apple Themed Craft | Juggling and Magic Workshops |
The annual Granny Smith Festival usually opens with its grand, much loved street parade, involving over 2,000 people. This year, City of Ryde Council is putting on the first-ever ONLINE Granny Smith Festival Parade – on Friday 15th October – and they need your help!
Kids 3 to 12yrs are invited to make their very own shoebox float for the first-ever VIRTUAL Granny Smith Festival Parade! And they could 🏆 WIN 1 of 14 prizes (with a total prize pool of over $700), plus of course the bragging rights for having a very a-peel-ing mini float! 🍏
Spend time during the school holidays creating a 3D mini model float out of a shoebox (or similar sized box) using recyclable materials (cereal boxes, toilet rolls, buttons etc) and load a photo onto the City of Ryde website by Sunday 10th October. Bonus points will be given to floats that are Granny Smith Apple themed! Click here for some inspiration from past Granny Smith Festival Parade floats.
The competition is open to kids aged 3 to 12yrs who live in the Sydney metropolitan area and there are two age group categories – 3 to 6 years and 7 to 12 years. The winner from each age category will win a prize pack valued at over $160, second place from each age category will win a prize pack valued at over $110 and there will be five runners up from each age category, who will receive a prize pack valued at over $20.
You can watch the virtual parade on Friday 15th October on the Granny Smith Festival Facebook page, where the winners will be revealed and lead their groups online parade.
The Granny Smith Festival celebrates food, fun and everything apples! This year, seeing we can’t come together in person, City of Ryde is giving all mini chefs the opportunity to participate in fun, educational and delicious cooking classes, hosted by Kids Love to Cook.
Classes are open to kids ages 7 to 14 years with all skill levels – some parental involvement may be needed, based on the experience level of your mini chef. There are nine classes to choose from and they are FREE! Places are limited so book in quick!
Get into the Granny Smith Festival spirit by doing some apple themed craft and activities.
The City of Ryde is also running free virtual workshops for kids that can be enjoyed by the whole family from the comfort of your home.
- Cedrix Irving’s Mighty Juggling Workshop (1st and 2nd October)
- Trace of Magic Kids Magic Show and Workshop (2nd October)
Places are limited, so make sure to register quickly.
