Pumpkin festival on a roll
Wed 01 July 2009
Claire Plush, Journalism
Record numbers flocked to the streets of Goomeri on Sunday May 31, 2009, for the 13th annual Goomeri Pumpkin Festival.
About 14,000 people travelled to the small country town, 78km west of Gympie, to participate in the festivities.
Despite being ranked 24 on the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland’s (RACQ) 150 “must-do’s in Queensland”, Goomeri Pumpkin Festival coordinator Geof Stum said he was not expecting such a large turnout.
“It was a nice surprise,” Mr Stum said.
“Because of the flu epidemic that’s around, I thought numbers would be down.”
Market stalls, local bands, agricultural demonstrations and competitions kept the record crowd entertained throughout the day.
“We try to make sure we have different stuff for people to enjoy,” Mr Stum said.
“If they don’t like one thing, they might like the thing next to it.”
As may be expected, the humble pumpkin was at the centre of most activities.
There was pumpkin bowls, pumpkin pageants, giant pumpkin pulls and even pumpkin patchwork.
The Great Australian Pumpkin Roll, however, was the highlight of the day, with a record number of contestants.
Cheering crowds stood safely behind barricades as over 600 pumpkins went flying, smashing and rolling down Policeman’s Hill.
Mr Stum said although he was originally skeptical of the idea, the success of the pumpkin roll over the past 12 years had been overwhelming.
“It’s the only one as far as we know that exists,” Mr Stum said.
“It’s something unusual, it’s good clean fun and people just go there to try and win.”
Burpengary resident Ron Turner was the 2009 winner of The Great Australian Pumpkin Roll.
Mr Turner, a first time visitor to Goomeri, said he was very surprised with the outcome.
“It was beginner’s luck,” Mr Turner said.
“I just rolled it and hoped for the best.”
The Goomeri Pumpkin Festival was the area’s biggest event of the year, with people travelling from as far as Tweed Heads and Rockhampton to attend.
“People bring a lot of money into the town,” Mr Stum said.
“And not just Goomeri, but other towns around here are booked out in accommodation.”
Mr Stum also said the festival was great way to promote Goomeri and had often led people to return months later to explore more of what the area had to offer.
“Beauty of it is, if people like it, they’ll come back,” Mr Stum said.
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