{"id":244285,"date":"2019-09-16T23:47:57","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T13:47:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=244285"},"modified":"2020-07-17T16:56:18","modified_gmt":"2020-07-17T06:56:18","slug":"holy-guacamole-blackbutt-was-big","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/09\/16\/holy-guacamole-blackbutt-was-big\/","title":{"rendered":"Holy Guacamole! Blackbutt Was Big …"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Festival volunteers Greg and Ali Lewis with the winning cups from the Avo Drop parachute competition … entrants bought a numbered cup and placed it on the oval<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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And the Avo Drop winners were … Ella Wells, 10, and her mum Belinda Hadley-Wells, from Tarong will split the $500 first prize<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

September 16, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 2019 Blackbutt Avocado Festival had everything on Saturday … from parachute jumps and a parade, to budgies, postripping and lots and lots of visitors.<\/p>\n

Avocado Central (ie. the Blackbutt Memorial Hall) was buzzing with avocado-themed cooking demonstrations by local chef Jason Ford,<\/p>\n

Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington and South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell were among the guests who took a turn on stage with Jason.<\/p>\n

Deb shared her Ekka-successful pesto recipe<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(with the addition of avocado, of course).<\/p>\n

While Keith was encouraged to make Bagel BLASTs (ie.\u00a0Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, smoked Salmon and Tomato bagels).<\/p>\n

Outside the hall, the QCWA cafe and the Avo-bard-do Bar were kept busy serving up avocado-based snacks and cocktails.<\/p>\n

At 1:00pm, traffic on the D’Aguilar Highway was diverted briefly as the Street Parade made its way through the heart of Blackbutt and headed towards the showgrounds.<\/p>\n

(No one seemed to mind, except for the driver of one large cattle truck which carefully mowed down the witches’ hats).<\/p>\n

Local Blackbutt organisations were out in force in the parade, with many decorating their entries with avocados of every shape and size.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alvin The Avocado was joined in the street by Blazer the Bear and Bacon Man, plus some pretty mean-looking stop-and-go ladies who were ordering the crowd to hop, cough and sneeze.<\/p>\n

The parade is an old favourite at the festival but there were some new ideas tried out this year, too.<\/p>\n

A popular new event was the Avo Drop.<\/p>\n

After testing which way the wind was blowing, four parachutists jumped out of a light plane above the Blackbutt Showgrounds Oval.<\/p>\n

Inside the oval were numbered plastic cups, filled with sand, which had been sold to onlookers. As they landed, the first three parachutists each grabbed the nearest cup.<\/p>\n

There were some great cash prizes on offer for the lucky cup holders.<\/p>\n

First prize ($500) went to Belinda\u00a0Hadley-Wells, from Tarong, who agreed to split the prize with her daughter Ella who selected where to place the cup.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Second prize ($200) was won by Willo Riley, from the Blackbutt Post Office, and third prize was won by hard-working festival volunteer Les Lane, from Taromeo Rural Fire Brigade (who, coincidentally, was dressed as an avocado).<\/p>\n

In the games area near Avo Central, there was Avo rolling, tossing, juggling, golf, strongman tests and wheelbarrow races, compered by local councillor Gavin Jones.<\/p>\n

But not everything in the festival area, which stretched from Nukku Nook to the showgrounds, was avocado-flavoured.<\/p>\n

There was the post-ripping (saluting Blackbutt’s timber town heritage), woodworking displays, caged birds and long lines of market stalls.<\/p>\n

South Burnett Regional Council also brought along its “South Burnett Flavours” archway and stalls to focus attention on boutique food producers in the region.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Two of the parachutists who made a dramatic entry into the Avocado Festival … Jake Edwards and Scott Perkins<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Three of the parachutists who dropped into the Blackbutt Showgrounds Oval … as they landed, they picked up the nearest numbered cup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Ruth Mitchell, from Redcliffe, and Mavis Ross, from Beachmere, were visiting Blackbutt on a bus tour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Alvin was back again … and gave the Blackbutt Avocado Festival a big thumbs up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"\"<\/a>
Avocado Central co-ordinator Sharon Ogden, from Mt Binga Orchards, with the Guess-The-Weight avocado<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n
\n

\"\"<\/a>
South Burnett Food Ambassador Jason Ford was doing avocado-themed cooking demonstrations in Memorial Hall<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\"\"<\/a>
South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell, centre, with Janet and John Smith, from Kingaroy … the Mayor was getting ready for his turn on stage with chef Jason Ford preparing Bagel BLASTs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Festival organising sub-committee chairman Jeff Connor seemed happy with the way the day was going<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Geoff Jacobson and Yasmin Spring were preparing avocado-based cocktails and mocktails in the Avo-bar-do at the Avocado Central Cafe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Blackbutt Camera Club had a display in the hall … from left, secretary Annette Schumacher, Betty Jay and Gerry van Moorsel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
First Responder Robyn Bliss, Advanced Care Paramedic Lachlan Matthew and officer-in-charge Amy Bellchambers, from Yarraman QAS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The team from the Yarraman CWA were run off their feet in the kitchen and cafe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Action from the avocado wheelbarrow race … which involved, of course, avocados and wheelbarrows plus an obstacle course<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The Panasonics Steel Band added some musical excitement to the parade and around the festival grounds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Matthew Wild was just one of the musicians on the live music program<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Everywhere you looked – from Nukku Nook to the showgrounds oval – there were avocados of different shapes and sizes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

* * *<\/h2>\n

Street Parade Photo Gallery<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2019 Blackbutt Avocado Festival had everything on Saturday … from parachute jumps and a parade, to budgies, postripping and lots and lots of visitors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":244338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,3],"tags":[83,1130],"yoast_head":"\nHoly Guacamole! 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