All right.

One.

Two.

Three.

I the room.

This was the moment many attending the 2025 Grape Harvest Festival have been waiting for the festival's annual grape stomping event.

[MUSIC] "On the ground."

Approximately 1000 people from across the area showed up at the Famu center for Viticulture and Small Fruit Research on Macon Road for the festival, on the second to last Saturday in August.

The purpose of the festival is to invite the community out to experience all of the great things that are being done at the at the center for Viticulture and Small Fruit.

Viticulture is the study of grapes and at this time of year, the center's vineyards are bursting with the muscadine varieties ready for harvest.

Know there's a tour of the vineyard, where we actually take people around and they can see and experience the vineyard.

You can pick as much grapes as can fit into a small lunch for a lunch pail.

Dean Dale Wesson is laughing because in the early years of the festival, people brought their own container.

And when we had people coming out with, pillowcases filled with, grapes, that was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

So we're now regulating the bags just so that everybody gets about the same amount.

The festival also showcased multiple vendors and exhibitors from other departments.

The main aim is to, let them be aware of all the all important pollinators are especially there.

Open up the beer.

I can't believe I wasn't aware that we have our very own vineyard in the backyard of Tallahassee, so that's really cool and exciting, so I'm really excited to check it out.

I came for the grapes, the food, the snacks, and basically I just like the environment.

My favorite event is the grape stomping event.

I enjoy watching the kids and watch the the parents and, watch everyone try to stomp for those three minutes and see how difficult it really is.

You are stopping on grapes.

You are so good on red grapes.

Do not send me a bill or no clean bill for the grape stomping portion of the festival.

There are ten teams with four people on each team.

Each member has one minute to stomp out its much juice as possible.

The juice is then collected, measured and compared.

Dean Wesson says he hopes the whole festival inspires people to learn more about the types of experiments done at the center, like the station that records information to train an agriculture AI system on how to grow better grapes.

Or the research the center does on the grapes themselves.

There are some anti-cancer chemicals that are in the skin and also in the seeds, and we've discovered them and we're looking at ways to concentrate them.

Outside of the grape and then also ways of concentrating them within the grape during the growing season.

For WFSU Public Media, I'm Suzanne Smith.