Gregory Farms and Vineyard holds its first annual ‘Blueberry Harvest Celebration’

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) —A local farm and vineyard celebrating blueberry season  with music, food trucks, and wine.

This was Gregory Farms and Vineyard’s first annual Blueberry Harvest Celebration, a celebration welcomed by many locals, since this year’s North Carolina Blueberry Festival, that was to be held June 18-19 in Burgaw, was canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“I am having a blast. I am here with family and friends. I love the view, I love the country, and just being around my family,” said Dolores Schaffner, event attendee.

There was live music from local artists, 2 food trucks, wine was available for tasting, and attendees were able to buy freshly picked blueberries from this year’s harvest.

“We’ve had a lot of people tell us they were disappointed that the festival was canceled. So they’ve been really excited that we were here, and that it’s a beautiful day, and we’ve got wine. So, I think people are just really excited that they’re still able to participate in it, even though the big festival was cancelled,” said Amanda Brewer, Gregory Farms and Vineyard owner’s daughter.

Gregory Farms and Vineyard is family owned and has been open to the public since 2017, but recently began selling wine from the property in October. The family says they are thankful for the community’s response to the annual event, as it will be the first of many.

“It’s like a big place for families, so that’s why we love sharing it, and like seeing all of these people out here has been such a fun experience for our family, to be able to share it, because before it was just a little… a family thing, and now opening it up has been very rewarding for our family to share it,” said Katie Gregory, Gregory Farms and Vineyard owner’s daughter.

A hail storm in May caused damage to many blueberry crops in the Cape Fear area, causing issues for many farmers this harvest, but farmer and owner, Alan Gregory, said their crop fared the storm.

“The only damage I saw was probably 5%, it was more in the Ivanhoe area, hate it for them for sure, and we got the frost in Easter, got us the worst, than the hail storm. So, when your farming its always something, wake up every morning and it’s something different, and every farmer in this country knows that,” said  Alan Gregory, Gregory Farms and Vineyard owner.

Although this year’s North Carolina Blueberry Festival has been canceled, local farms will sell blueberries at the Burgaw Courthouse Square, June 19.