General News
26 November, 2024
Kannamaroo defied the weather to put on a family- friendly free weekend
Families enjoyed Kannamaroo Festival despite weather challenges.
Despite a slow start to the Kannamaroo Festival on Saturday due to weather conditions, families enjoyed the many activities at the annual event.
With free admission and many free activities, families played mini golf and hoops, painted cars, made box cars to race, face painting, a market and watched exciting demonstrations by emergency services on Sunday.
Saturday afternoon was slow, with a small crowd braving the heat, but the evening events and food vans attracted a bigger crowd.
Organiser Di Bell took the weather challenges in good humour.
"The beauty of having the pavilions meant the show could go on when the rain started," she said.
Mrs Bell said she was pleased to see the rain stayed away on Sunday, and the festival drew a much larger crowd
The Saturday night fireworks were cancelled due to the extreme weather warning for the region, which turned to rain in the evening.
However, the indoor pavilions meant most activities could be held inside, and the Filos provided singing and dancing, with their colourful costumes lighting up the stage.
The evening program began at 6pm with family bingo, music and dancing, mobile food vendors and drink stalls.
An important attraction to the Kannamaroo Festival this year was a sensory nook for people who needed a quiet space amid the activity.
Families and individuals used it as a place to sit and relax with quiet activities for children to enjoy.
Santa arrived on a CFA truck ready to launch the festive season.
Kannamaroo is a family-friendly free event held each year on the last weekend of November on the banks of the Wimmera River at the Horsham Showgrounds and Maydale Reserve.
The iconic waterway inspired the festival's name, which Translates as 'Kanna', meaning beautiful and 'Amaroo', meaning waterhole.
The annual festival began in 1980 and has been held ever since. However, due to periods of drought, the Kannamaroo Festival was relocated to Firebrace Street and became a market festival for a time but has since returned to the Showgrounds where it was held again this year.