Beachport’s inaugural crayfish festival proved a huge hit on Saturday, with 2300 people making the most of the event.
Held at Centennial Park in the heart of the seaside town, the event combined a family fun day with a food and wine festival.
Wattle Range Council Tourism and Events Coordinator Tamara North said organisers were overwhelmed by the response to the festival.
“We built this festival from scratch with 10 committee members and council,” Wattle Range Council Tourism and Events Coordinator Tamara North said.
“It was six months in the planning.”
Miss North said the event attracted all ages of the community, with the kids zone “absolutely packed” during the day.
“The climbing wall operator from Adelaide said he had never had a busier day at a festival,” she said.
“There were lots of different age groups, families were mainly here in the morning … and coming into 4pm there were so many people sitting around eating and drinking.
“It was a great mix of both a family festival and a food and wine festival.
“There was music and entertainment all day, we did have a bit of drizzly rain at 7pm and that did send a lot of people away but we still had over 500 people on site until 10pm.”
Miss North said the festival was not only a boon for the 65 stallholders on site, but also for accommodation providers in the region.
“The accommodation places were almost fully booked out around here,” she said.
“There were people who could not find accommodation.”
Miss North said the committee would have a well-earned rest followed by a debrief before decisions were made about the event’s future.
“It’s still to be decided whether go again next year or whether do it yearly or two yearly,” she said.
“We will definitely do one again, but just need to work out whether it will be every year.
“We could not have done it without the volunteers, we had over 100 volunteers on site over the day.”
Cousins Simone Kain from George the Farmer and Deon Howell from South East Property Sales and Management claimed the inaugural crayfish cook off competition, defeating local police officers and business people.
The duo cooked a lobster, fennell and grape salad, with the crayfish the centrepiece of their recipe.
In the tug of war competition the Hogan family was defeated by a determined team of Beachport fishermen and deckhands.
The event also raised more than $3500 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service through an on-site auction, as well as gold coin donations from Rob’s Carriages.
