Port mussels up

THE Portarlington Mussel Festival has gone down as a major success, with more 10,000 people turning out to enjoy mussel mania on Saturday afternoon (January 14).

Held at W.G. Little Reserve in the centre of Portarlington, the event flexed its mussels for the first in three years as the community enjoyed over 200 stalls and five stages of entertainment in the summer sun.

Event organiser Richard Underwood said event committee and volunteers were thrilled with the overall turnout, particularly in the 37-degree heat.

“It was another great day, it was stifling hot, but we think we got around 10,000 people who came through,” Underwood.

“We’ve had some fantastic feedback and people couldn’t believe the entertainment put on and the variety of stalls.

“We’ve never seen a crowd at 10:30am like we had, they definitely all filled in early.

“We also definitely moved a couple tonne of mussels on the day which was great as well.”

While attendees waltzed around the site with ice cream, lollies or seafood in hand, they were also treated to a wide range of the entertainment which was cast over five separate stages.

“Bjorn Again, the Australian ABBA show was a highlight, the crowd loved them and a special mention also goes to Rie who brought plenty of people through for her great cooking demonstration,” Underwood said.

“For our volunteers and those on the stalls it was pretty tough with the heat, but they all did their duty.

“The Queenscliff Coastguard also did an outstanding job, they volunteered on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday with set-up and pack-down.

“It was probably the smoothest running one a Mussel Festival that we’ve had yet.

“It couldn’t happen without all of them.”

Underwood said that the event committee would face some change in 2024, with several elderly members stepping down to hopefully make way for a younger brigade.