The Granny Smith Festival 2022 was back in force on 15th Oct, after having the last two years canceled due to the Covid lockdown.
Held as an annual festival in Eastwood, it is now one of the largest annual events of its type in Sydney’s Northern District, attracting over 80,000 people each year, a fabulous build-up since it began in 1985.
The origin of the name ‘Granny Smith’ is just as impressive. It was named after Maria Ann Smith, a prominent figure in the district. She had a small orchard cultivating fruit and would toss seeds from French crab apples out her window. This combined with Ryde’s famously fertile soil at the time, resulted in one of the most recognisable mutations of apples in the world – the ‘Granny Smith’ apple, named after Maria, who had numerous children and was known as ‘Granny Smith’ in her advanced years.
A key highlight of the festival is the Granny Smith Festival Parade. Stryder had always partaken in all the previous festivals and this year was no exception. Team Stryder had a great time decorating the bus, with also thanks to Floranectar, a local florist in Gladesville, who created a beautiful wreath covered in green apples for the front of the Stryder Bus.
There was a huge turnout at the festival which made it fun to bump into Carer Gateway who is one of our bus sponsors. We had a great time paying a visit to their wonderful stall.
We like to say a big ‘Thank You’ to the City of Ryde for such a well-organised event.
Finally, so good to see our dear Robyn who generously came to help with decorating the bus and joining the parade. We love our community!
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