{"id":218641,"date":"2018-09-19T17:25:05","date_gmt":"2018-09-19T07:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=218641"},"modified":"2020-09-23T15:59:01","modified_gmt":"2020-09-23T05:59:01","slug":"celebration-salutes-everything-italian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/09\/19\/celebration-salutes-everything-italian\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebration Salutes Everything Italian"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Crowds cheer as Jason Kinsella urges on the competitors in the pasta-eating competition<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Heads down as the piano accordion serenades the competitors<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

September 19, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

Moffatdale Ridge’s annual Italian Festival had a lot of competition this year – rugby league grand finals, Nanango Muster, Nanango Races, Avocado Festival etc – but still about 1200 people turned up to celebrate la dolce vita.<\/p>\n

The lawns of the cellar door at Moffatdale were packed with chairs while other visitors sat under shade sails erected especially for the day.<\/p>\n

Sue Kinsella, from Moffatdale Ridge, said the crowd was happy and enjoyed the entertainment and food on offer.<\/p>\n

Music was provided by Italian Festival regular Fortunato Isgro along with Brisbane-based opera singer Meg Kiddle, Rob Grant on piano accordion and the Soul Good Big Band from Murgon.<\/p>\n

A popular attraction this year was a salami wheel, run by Kingaroy Rotary.<\/p>\n

Sue said the crowd also enjoyed performances from a six-girl Italian dancing group, who came up from Brisbane for the day.<\/p>\n

The spaghetti-eating competition is always a highlight of the event and this year was no exception.<\/p>\n

The competition was wide open, with reigning champion and three-time winner Michaela Graaf overseas and unable to defend her title.<\/p>\n

The 2018 winner, Gympie chicken farmer Blake Wardle, impressed the crowd with his pasta-eating skills!<\/p>\n

A small shower in the morning cleared to a fine, if cloudy day, keeping the temperatures comfortable.<\/p>\n

This year’s celebrations wound up about 5:30pm.<\/p>\n

An hour later, a storm swept through giving the Moffatdale Ridge vineyards a welcome little bit of rain.<\/p>\n

Sue said next year’s Italian Festival will probably be brought forward a week, to September 7, to avoid clashing with other South Burnett activities.<\/p>\n

[Photos: Ros Heit]<\/strong><\/p>\n

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