The People

It’s a typical Thursday morning and Eileen Bartel’s weekly masterclass is well underway in her makeshift sewing room at Angaston. The chatter flies quicker than a sewing machine needle as the assembled women use their collective wisdom to tackle matters of life and stitching.

DJ Dave Craker is unapologetic for marching to the beat of his own drum, or to be more precise, turntable. Hip hop has been a constant in Dave’s life for as long as he can remember, taking him to exhilarating heights and helping him make sense of his darkest moments.

Cutting a striking figure in the boardroom of her cellar door, it’s hard to imagine just a few hours earlier Prue Henschke was knee-deep in the vineyard, the place where she is happiest.

In a long, narrow shed on the fringes of Nuriootpa, Tom Gerlach’s focus is singular. Time slows. There are no other thoughts. On this rectangle of black mats, there is only the moment, and a playbook of how to best roll into the next.

Neville Assad-Salha was introduced to art during high school, when his parents kindly invited an artist to stay with their family.

In Nuriootpa’s Centennial Park, tucked away past the netball courts, crickets nets and the Scouts’ hall, sits the Barossa United Football Club’s (BUFC) newly completed synthetic pitch, just in time for the 2023 season to kick off in March.

Given his time over, Jamie Nietschke probably wouldn’t co-locate a dairy and a vineyard on the variable soils of the Moppa, but he’s not complaining – in fact, he’s counting his blessings.

Beneath the exquisite haute couture and accessories, it’s Jill Wehr’s joie de vivre that resonates from the pages of the 2023 Barossa Vintage Festival programme.

Brad Vaughan is following his childhood dream of becoming a race-car-driver in Australia’s top level, Supercars.

She may be show baking royalty, but Valmai Auricht rules with people at her heart, and a love of sharing life’s homely riches.