Thousands to flock to grape race meet

Thousands of punters from across WA will frock up for Mt Barker's biggest annual event, the Grapes and Gallops Festival on Sunday.

It showcases some of the best wine, fashion and racing from the region headlined by the region's equal-richest horse race - the $100,000 Mungrup Stud Sprint.

The festival began nine years ago as a collaboration between the Mt Barker Turf Club and Mt Barker Wine Producers, and has since blossomed into a major drawcard for the town.

Chairwoman Kim Tyrer said the event was an opportunity to showcase what the region had to offer.

"We are putting Mt Barker on the map and it's having a great event in our area which is attracting a lot of people," she said.

"It's an opportunity to showcase our products to 2000-plus people.

"It is also an opportunity to promote the region as being a premier wine-growing area and Mungrup Sprint as a great family-owned business, which is very well known within its industry."

Ms Tyrer said 40 per cent of the punters were expected to come from outside the Great Southern, which would interject more than $1 million into the region's economy.

"If they visit from outside, they are more than likely to spend two to three days in the region," she said.

"Our spending is also within the Great Southern (as) we try to support local businesses, it's not quite 100 per cent but pretty close, so all the money we raise for the event is spent in the region."

Shire of Plantagenet Rob Stewart said the festival was popular event, which played an important part in the local economy.

"That's an opportunity for us to show off the things we can do locally and as part of the region," he said.

"We see it as part of our role in economic development because (it) puts Mt Barker and the Great Southern on the map - that's what we are all about.

"We are showcasing what small towns in rural communities can do and can do successfully."