Not only was this Easter long weekend the hottest on record for the Parkes Shire, but the Tullamore Irish Music Festival had its biggest influx of visitors too.
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In 20 years – and for the 15 years the festival has been running – temperatures in Parkes on Easter Saturday have never gone above 29 degrees or below 17.
Though Tullamore does not have its own weather station, the Bureau of Meteorology recorded Parkes at 32.1 degrees on Good Friday, 33.9 on Easter Saturday and 34.1 on Easter Sunday.
The hottest Easter Saturday previously was 10 years ago on March 22, 2008 at 29 degrees.
But the heat didn’t deter more than 1600 people from attending the Irish Festival’s main day on Saturday – 300 to 500 more people than last year.
The festival also had record numbers for overnight visitors, tallying 250 campers compared to the 180 who stayed in 2017.
One organiser, Megan Mortimer, admitted the committee was hoping for bigger numbers but with so many competing events over Easter, she said they were still pleased with the results.
“The festival mood was contagious and everyone was in good spirits,” Megan said.
“It was a happy, vibrant atmosphere and there was no trouble.”
This year’s festival attracted some new faces and features, including performances by Aboriginal dance group Waganha Bulabul from Peak Hill, an expanded children’s entertainment area and different location for the markets.
“Waganha Bulabul was so well received, they were great...and we had more children’s entertainment and more rides, and a new place for the markets which the way it was set up worked really well,” Megan said.
“It was all together in the one place so you could watch your children and still watch the music on stage. The rides used to be near the front gate.
“The Halloran Irish dancers are always popular and it was the Blackwater Irish Band’s first time to Tullamore, they really entertained the crowd and they loved it. They said they want to come back.
“The Barleyshakes from Brisbane have never been to a town like this before, they loved it too.”
The official opening took place at 12.25pm by Tullamore Irish Music Festival committee president Paul Stanbrook and Deputy Prime Minister and Federal Member for the Riverina Michael McCormack.
The festival also featured the annual favourites such as the street parade in Cardigan Street and the ‘Wearing of the Green’ competition. But it was too hot for Irish hurdles or tug-o-war, which were cancelled.
Artist Maria Forde returned to the festival for the first time in five years.
She had performed in the Tullamore Presbyterian Church for crowds in the past, but this year organisers decided to make the gathering an extra ticketed event for the festival on Good Friday.
“It was so popular we decided to move it to the Catholic Church so we could seat more people,” Megan said.
“150 people attended the church concert.”
The highlight of the festival was the appearance of Aussie music legend John Williamson, performing to a packed festival grounds on Saturday night.
By the end of his two-hour performance, Williamson had fans on their feet singing and dancing away to his biggest hits, including True Blue, Rip Rip Woodchip, Old Man Emu and Waltzing Matilda.
Williamson also took time to sign CDs, books, hats and shirts at the conclusion of his concert.
“He played solidly for two hours...I was impressed by his ability to stay on stage for two hours,” Megan said.
“The seats were set up close to the stage but there was one woman towards the end of the concert who had the torch on on her phone and she walked down the aisle to the front to dance, well that opened the flood gates.
“People were coming down the aisle, they were coming from everywhere. Once that happened that was fantastic.”
And in that moment, seeing all those people listening to Williamson, Megan said that’s when they knew all their hard work had paid off.
“You feel like you’ve done your job and delivered on what you said you would,” she said.
“The bar was 10 people deep and six-wide...People raved about the whole festival.
“I’ve received emails from people saying how wonderful it was and how they’ll be back.”
Megan would like to thank and acknowledge the hard work of the festival committee.
“They worked so hard, they’re all volunteers and they do this for the community,” she said.
“I’d like to acknowledge the community too for helping out and making sure everything was ready.
“People who aren’t on the committee went out of their comfort zones to try new things, everyone put so much effort in.
“And we packed up in record timing [on Tuesday], so many people in the community came to help.
“That’s all really important.”
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