Mumbil’s Blackwattle Fair has brought crowds numbering in the hundreds through the town for a day of fun, games, sport and market stalls.
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The annual event, which began in the 1980’s, ran uninterrupted until it was discontinued in the early 2000’s.
Organisers at the Mumbil District Progress Association with help from sponsors at Akubra have began holding the festival again in recent years.
This year the fair drew hundreds of visitors alongside a hundreds of locals during the event on September 30, according to organiser Hazel Keogh.
“If I had to guess I’d say about 200 or 300 people (visited on the day), which is quite a lot. It’s almost our population,” Mrs Keogh said.
The event was devised to provide families in Mumbil with a day out in the open air and a range of fun activities and games to participate in.
“It’s really a day for the community to get out and enjoy themselves, I suppose, and let the kids get out in the open air and do something that’s not on their phones.”
The event involved Mumbil’s annual Chuckakubra competition, where competitors attempt to hurl donated Akubra hats as far as they possibly can, with a prize going to those that throw the furthest.
The event was devised by then MDPA secretary Marie Thurlow in 1989 and has since become a stalwart feature attraction.
Since the 80’s, organisers have rounded out the fair with further games and prizes, live music and a billy cart race.
“The billy carts are a big favourite. A local builder made us about a half a dozen or so after the first time so that even the kids who couldn’t make one themselves could have a go,” Mrs Keogh said.
Signs advertising the Chuckakubra contest and the Blackwattle Fair have stood on either side of Mumbil since the early days of the event in 1995.
Previously, the event has been awarded Community Event of the Year at the Wellington Australia Day celebrations.
“The shop here closed and we only have the one pub, so it’s very important to have a day like this,” Mrs Keogh said.
“It goes really well and people really enjoy it.”
