Those passing through Tontitown in late July will be met with the aroma of homemade pasta, spaghetti sauce and tradition wafting from the kitchen in the parish hall of St. Joseph Church in preparation for the historic Grape Festival.
Steeped in Italian heritage, the festival began as a picnic of thanksgiving for immigrant families who had survived the cold winter months. Today, 118 years later, it has become the largest festival in northwest Arkansas, still hosted by the roughly 300 families in the parish.
