This year the National Cherry Festival in Young will be celebrating its 75th year with a huge line up of events, things to see, do and taste, however, it's worth having a look back at the event to see how far it has come.

Though the event officially began in 1949, the region's cherry growing roots stemmed back into the 1850s, but the region didn't become known as Australia's Cherry Capital until years later.

The first ever festival was a celebration of the local harvest and solidified status as the capital of cherries in the country.

Early settlers to the area first planted cherries, however, it was Croatian immigrant Nicolas Jasprizza, who came to the area for the gold rush in the 1860s, who pioneered the local cherry industry on a commercial level.

By the 1890s, cherry production was a huge part of the driving the local economy.

The first festival began as a celebration of the successful harvest and was formalised as an annual event in 1949 with the event growing from year to year from a local gathering to an almost week long event that features many highlights such as the official opening at Anderson Park, the parade, the Wilders Cherry Pie eating competition, the Pip Spit and the markets and draws visitors from across the country and overseas.

This year the celebration will introduce another new event with the Multicultural Cherry Fiesta, which is only fitting given how the local community was established through individuals with different multicultural backgrounds.

It was at the 1949 festival that the first ever Cherry Queen was crowned with the honour going to Joan Thackeray.

In 1950 there was no Cherry Queen, however, the Rural Queen was awarded to Hazel McFarlane and Phyl Carey was named the Town Queen the same year, in 1951 the title of Cherry Queen returned and was won by Ruth Kennedy.

From its humble beginnings the event now boasts between 10 to 15,000 visitors each year, and rain, hail, COVID or shine, the event has adapted so it can still be held in some capacity, including last year when bad weather caused venues to change and events to be called off, however, the show has still gone on.

Be sure to get ready and prepared for a fun filled and delicious Cherry Festival and help celebrate 75 years of the event, the local culture and of course all things cherry.