Port mussels up for major festival

PORTARLINGTON turned its eye to a seafood delicacy over the weekend, with thousands of people indulging in the 19th edition of the Portarlington Mussel Festival.

Crowds of more than 25,000 people flocked to Saturday’s vibrant community celebration which brought together fresh local food, live music, and family-friendly fun — all in support of the local community.

Visitors indulged in performers across three stages, cooking demonstrations of mussels cooked in every way, art and photography exhibitions, kids activities and more than 190 market stalls.

Run entirely by a passionate team of more than 80 volunteers, the festival once again provided a huge cash reinjection back into the Bellarine Peninsula and its local businesses.

Portarlington Mussel Festival organiser Richard Underwood said fundraising figures were set to soar over $350,000 after another huge push in 2026.

“It was another highly successful festival with a really solid crowd spread across the day.

“We worked with 15 or 16 different community organisations who will gain contributions from the event. We believe we will be able to give back to the community what we have in past years.

“Our musicians were just amazing with Elton Jack and the Divinyls cover band really impressing, as did the Midnight Oil guys.

“Rie, who has been doing our cooking demonstrations for as long as I can remember added that every one of the shows was standing room only – a terrific outcome for all of us.”

Mr Underwood all eyes now turned to making the event bigger and better for its 20th anniversary in January 2027.

“We’ve got some exciting things planned, and rest assured it’s going to be a very special celebration come this time next year.”