By Danielle Kutchel
Pakenham’s beloved Yakkerboo Festival is over for another year, but it seems memories of the weekend will live on in the hearts of those who attended.
President of the Yakkerboo organising committee, Michael Porter, is still coming down off the weekend’s high and said the event was “hugely successful”.
“We made some changes this year but we think that, whilst we had some teething problems, overall it went fantastic!” he enthused.
He said that while it is difficult to keep track of the attendees that flooded to PB Ronald Reserve over the weekend, he believes that 10,000 people made the pilgrimage this year to enjoy a rebooted festival.
The new entertainment format was a particular highlight for Mr Porter.
“A highlight for me was seeing all the community groups perform and seeing so many people sit and watch. They were all local talents, local groups, dance clubs and singing acts, so it was really good to see them be able to showcase that talent and their business.”
Mr Yakkerboo’s cake was a source of delight for visitors too: designed to look like a stack of classic children’s books, it fooled some onlookers into thinking it really was a book display.
“It was so realistic that someone tried to open it!” Mr Porter said.
“That cake blew me away, it was fantastic. And from all reports, it tasted as good as it looked!”
The new route for the parade caused a slight hiccup when crowds were unsure where to stand for the commencement; however the 26 float entries, plus the cavalcade, soon pulled onlookers to John Street for what Mr Porter described as one of the best Yakkerboo parades he’s seen since becoming involved with the festival.
“I’d love to thank the new committee for all their help on the day – to have so many helpers on the day was fantastic,” he added.
“We’re really grateful for all the sponsors for contributing to the day too.”
Mr Porter also extended his congratulations to all the winners from the parade in each category.
He said the committee is keen to learn from this year’s event to take Yakkerboo to greater heights in 2020.
“Our plan is to learn by what we did this year, to make it bigger and better next year,” he said.
The Yakkerboo committee will be holding a debrief meeting on 8 May in the boardroom of the Cardinia Club on Racecourse Road, from 7pm. Anyone interested in getting involved with the festival is welcome to attend to find out more.
PARADE AWARD WINNERS
Best School Entry: Bayles Regional Primary School
Honourable Mention: Pakenham Consolidated School
Best Kinder/Childcare: Pakenham Heights Kindergarten
Honourable Mention: Pakenham Kindergarten
Most Dedicated To Theme: Cardinia Primary School
Honourable Mention: Pakenham Springs Primary School
Most Enthusiastic: Cardinia Gujarati Association and Sri Guru Nanak Darbar Officer
Honourable Mention: Heenan Taekwondo
Most Original: Andrews Community Kindergarten
Honourable Mention: Homegarth Community Kindergarten
Best Community Entry: Pakenham Op Shop.
Cavalcade Judges’ Choice: 1958 Lotus Replica sports car
Oldest Car in Parade: 1925 Chevrolet Tourer
