During the stomp, teams of two, many with creative names and costumes, compete to collect the most juice out of 25 pounds of grapes in three-minute heats. Teams consist of a “stomper,” who stands in half a winebarrel with the grapes, and a “swabber, or mucker” who stands outside the barrel and reaches in to help flow the juice out of a drain spout.

Teams are encouraged to appear in costume and prizes are awarded based on originality, design and effort. Previous winners include the “Mucker Truckers“, “Grapeful Dead” and the “Cork Fungus Fairies” with the most anticipated heat of the day being the Winemakers Heat where local winemakers come out to compete in a friendly rivalry for best juice out of the bottle and the Presidents Cup. Competitions are highly encouraged between businesses, sponsors, organizations and friends and pre-registration is strongly recommended as stomp competitions sell out well before the event.

Crowds of over 10,000 people from near and far flood the little town of Murphy with a population of only 2000+ for this exciting all day event that includes the Gold Rush Street Fair lining Main Street with over 100 outside vendors. Quality arts and crafts, antiques, handcrafted goods, jewelry, clothing, collectibles and food booths offer wares for sale in addition to Murphys’ multitude of one-of-a-kind specialty shops, restaurants and tasting rooms that line Main Street.

Attending the 25th Annual Grape Stomp Competition and Gold Rush Street Fair is free to the public and the event runs from 9:30am – 5pm on Saturday October 6th.