Guy Barnett,Minister for Primary Industries and Water
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is the strongest supporter of Rural Youth Tasmania and AGFEST, which is one of the highlights of the Tasmanian rural calendar.
The Government is today announcing a funding commitment of $850,000 for Rural Youth Tasmania to ensure both the continuation of AGFEST and the growth and sustainability of the organisation.
Scheduled for 24 – 27 August 2022, AGFEST is Tasmania’s premier agricultural and machinery event held at Quercus Park at Carrick, and tickets go on sale from 1 July 2022.
It is one of Tasmania’s most iconic annual events and the three-day event normally attracts about 65,000 patrons each year and hosts hundreds of local and interstate businesses.
AGFEST has continued to grow in size and reputation across its 39-year history, with the first event in 1983 attracting 111 exhibitors and 9,000 patrons. The final full-scale event in 2019, prior to COVID-19, attracted 728 stallholders and 63,838 patrons.
Delivered by Rural Youth Tasmania, AGFEST offers exhibitors the opportunity to showcase their quality products, people, brands, and services to a wide local and national audience.
The event is a strong contributor to Tasmania’s tourism and visitor economy, and many visitors and attendees take the opportunity to spend extra time in Tasmania.
Today’s investment by the Tasmanian Government will allow Rural Youth Tasmania to have surety in their event planning, as well as provide support for vital infrastructure work to ensure organisational stability and the future viability of AGFEST.
This funding announcement will give our agriculture and event industries confidence in the future viability of what has become a key event in Tasmania’s annual events calendar.
Tasmania has a booming agriculture sector and we are on track to sustainably reach our goal of $10 billion farm-gate value by 2050, and events like AGFEST and organisations like Rural Youth Tasmania are an important part of Tasmanian agriculture.
