Under blue skies and in perfect conditions, locals and visitors alike turned out in force on Saturday to celebrate the culmination of the 2016 Eat Local Week festivities – the Winter Harvest Festival.
Held at the Aratula Sports Complex on July 2, the festival attracted more than 7000 people across the day, some from as far away as the New South Wales south coast, and all there to see and taste the best food and wine the Scenic Rim had to offer.
With more than 40 producers’ stalls offering sales and samples of their produce, the crowd tried honey, milk, cupcakes, wine, carrot cheesecake, pizza, fresh fruits and vegetables, olives and much more.
Cooking demonstrations and book signings were also featured.
A highlight of the event was the annual Kalbar and District Community Bank Tractor Pulling Competition in which seven teams of 12, in the senior category, went head to head to see which could pull a 12 tonne tractor the fastest over a distance of 20 metres.
Team Butcher Co. emerged victorious, with a time of 17.38 seconds and winning $1000 for their chosen organisation, Aratula Community Sports.
Placing a close second and winning $500 for charity each were the teams Not Quite the Full Dozen and Kalfresh, both with a time of 17.68 seconds.
Third place in the senior category went to Team Moffat with a time of 17.75 seconds.
The all-female team All Saints Angels won the prize for best dressed team, which was judged by Scenic Rim mayor Greg Christensen.
In the junior category, teams of four competed to pull a 1.8 tonne tractor over 20 metres.
First place went to team Charlie’s Boy, second place to team Hermann Munsters and third place to team Misfits, each winning $250, $150 and $100 respectively.
The festival was a hit with visitors, including Barb and Tony Maginnity, of the Bega Valley in New South Wales, who were discovering the Scenic Rim for the first time.
Ms Maginnity said despite living in a rural area herself, she enjoyed seeing what the Scenic Rim producers had to offer.
“It’s fabulous and a great opportunity for city people to discover what the country is about,” she said.
A Scenic Rim Regional Council spokesperson reported a good turnout for the event, with a “fabulous crowd enjoying the winter sun”.
“Crowd numbers were conservatively 7500, up on 6000 last year,” she said.
“While numbers are still being tallied, overall visitors for Eat Local Week look set to exceed last year’s total of 23,000.”