Alfesta

What is Alfesta?

Each year an AROCA State Division takes a turn hosting Alfesta, with 2022 being the first Alfesta to be held on the NSW North Coast, as it will be held in Port Macquarie. This will be the tenth time NSW has hosted Alfesta, including two events hosted in Canberra, and the first since 2013. To learn more about Alfesta in Port Macquarie go to alfesta2022.net where you can create an account to register your interest, find additional information at the accommodation at the Waters Edge Boutique Hotel and how to pay for your Alfesta package.

Following the Port Macquarie Alfesta, in 2023 Alfesta will be held in Queensland, which will be hosting the event for the first time since 2014. Queensland was due to hold the 2020 event in Toowoomba, and it is likely that this will be the venue for 2023. In 2024 it will be Victoria's turn, at a venue that is likely to be announced at the Alfesta in 2023. The distance involved makes hosting Alfestas in Western Australia difficult, but a few have made the trip east across the Nullarbor in recent years to come to Alfestas in Tasmania and South Australia.

A recent addition to the Alfesta concept has been the post-Alfesta tour, which is an optional event to explore some of the better driving roads in the hosting state. The 2022 Tour is in the early stages of planning, with the route likely to cross the Great Dividing Range several times and generally head towards Queensland. Currently, the Oxley Highway is cut in the middle due to landslides from the heavy autumn rain this year. The post-Alfesta tour is a separate event from Alfesta and you can attend one without the other, and just do a day or two of the tour if you choose.

The history of Alfesta

Ernie and Joan Stock, Joan Lewis and Anne Beck compiled a history of Alfesta in the mid 1990's which was given out as a booklet at Alfesta in 1996. The booklet advises that the gatherings from 1975 onwards are officially recognised Alfestas, but the 1971 to 1974 events were attended mainly by Victorian Division members with a few enthusiasts from the other States and were not considered National events. The first official Alfesta was held in 1975 at Lake Boga near Swan Hill Victoria. Since then, Alfesta has become a much anticipated event on the annual calendar.

Each year, over the Easter long weekend, the Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia organises a national gathering and issues an open invitation to Alfisti near and far to gather and celebrate all things Alfa Romeo. The name given to this gathering is Alfesta (Alfas at Easter) and is eagerly anticipated by many Club members.