September 15, 2017
There was plenty of avocado fun to be had in Blackbutt on Saturday, without anyone having to worry about their mortgages!
In fact, as Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington suggested when she officially opened the second annual Blackbutt Avocado Festival, everyone seemed to be having a smashing time.
And the organisers were happy, too.
Organising committee chairman Jeff Connor told southburnett.com.au all the stallholders he had spoken to had told him there were more people in attendance than in previous years.
“We don’t really know but I’d say the numbers were in excess of 3000,” he said.
A highlight of the day was the street parade, which had more than 35 participants, and was led by a solitary piper.
Students from both Benarkin and Blackbutt State Schools took part as well as the local kindy and daycare centres.
Medical students from the Blackbutt Medical Centre hammed it up with a gurney and a dancing “surgeon”.
There were also sled dogs, karate kids, stilt walkers, the Timbertowns Woodworking Group and a display of well-polished automobiles from the Blackbutt Car Enthusiasts Club.
Superheroes from the Taromeo Fire Brigade, accompanied by Blazer the Bear, also were featured in the parade and took out the best costume award.
(Later in the day, the superheroes had to don their regular yellow uniforms to tackle a fire burning on Old Esk Road at Taromeo.)
Blackbutt resident Stephen Moore won the $1000 prize in the Avocado Roll competition, which was conducted throughout the day with heats and then finals.
The roll was introduced when the festival was still known as Bloomin’ Beautiful and has grown in popularity ever since.
Jeff noted that this was the first year that a man had beaten the women to win the competition.
Over in the showgrounds, the usual woodchopping competition was being held, but this year it was a South-East Queensland Championship event with $1200 in prize money.
The Avocado Festival also gave many Blackbutt residents their first opportunity to have a look inside the relocated Memorial Hall.
Chef Jason Ford was working his magic with avocados in cooking demonstrations, joined at one point on stage by South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell.
Also in the hall were demonstrations of avocado grafting, talks about growing avocados and avocado plants for sale.
Footnote: Avocados and mortgages have become inextricably linked in Australia since some unfortunate recent comments that connected millennials’ home-buying prospects to eating smashed avocados …
(Photo: Nanango Electorate Office)
