Batlow's CiderFest back again to celebrate local bubbling brews

Thousands are expected to flock to the small village in the Snowy Valleys for a day of music, food and drinks, celebrating all things cider in a town famous for its apples.

It's the second festival for the region in recent weeks after the Tumut celebrated the 70^th year of the Falling Leaf Festival in April.

Live music will be playing all day long, headlined by roots, rock and blues star Steve Edwards, but the main attraction of the day is the local and national cideries promoting their products.

Ian 'Stotty' Stott from the Batlow Cider Co. said it's wonderful to see the community support a festival that showcases local products.

"It's something that I tick off on the calendar, it's a wonderful day," Mr Stott said.

"There's plenty of people that come in from Wagga, from Canberra, from further out in the Riverina.

"Batlow Cider was certainly heavily involved in getting the first CiderFest off the ground and the industry has certainly grown a long way from where we started.

Batlow Cider Co. will be showcasing a pineapple cider throughout the day alongside their classic apple ciders.

"It uses our normal apple base, but we've added pineapple juice into the product to produce a beautifully flavoured product," Mr Stott said.

"There's nobody else in Australia that is producing a pineapple cider and it's difficult to do because of our tax laws.

"It's just a good, fun day with lots of activities, lots of music and obviously a chance for people to not only try the local ciders, but other local products as well, foods and other drinks, whether its alcoholic or non-alcoholic."

Crafty Cider is one of the local cideries hosting a tasting session during the festival, owner of the Batlow based business, Tony Cross, has been taking his brews to the festival for the last five years.

"It's a great day out for us to sell cider, but it's also a good day to meet your customers," Mr Cross said.

"To get feedback from your customers to actually face to face, talk to them as they're drinking your cider, and that's the best thing a cider maker can get really.

"They can tell you what they like or what they don't like and you take that back to your site and make some changes if you have to."

Mr Cross was just starting to grow his cider business when the Black Summer bushfires devastated the Snowy Valleys.

While his business wasn't directly impacted, Mr Cross saw the community rally to get the town back fighting and views Saturday's festival as a celebration of the local love residents have for the region.

"People were also bringing food and all sorts of things up, anything from toothpaste to water," he said.

"A lot of interest, a lot of generosity, and it created some tourism for a while.

"People wanted to help us out, no doubt about it."

The Batlow CiderFest will be held on Pioneer Street on Saturday, with live entertainment starting from 10am.