Prom Coast Festival.
THE Corner Inlet community and visiting holidaymakers alike revelled in a memorable assortment of entertainment, spectacular action, artistic and literary creativity and delicious produce during the four-day 2021 Prom Coast Festival.
From the first event on Friday morning March 5; story time for kids at the Foster Library, through to celebrating local women’s achievements on International Women’s Day on Monday afternoon March 8, the Festival’s packed program certainly had something to please everyone!
There was live music at Yanakie, Foster and Sandy Point; a film screening, art displays and Australian children’s literature at Fish Creek; bushwalking on Wilsons Prom, and mountain bike racing at Foster.
A baking competition, a photography contest, a blooming marvellous autumn flower and plant show, performing comedians, and a spectacular evening lantern and fire parade were some of the attractions and activities that drew entrants, audiences and admiration.
A splendid five-course dinner and a progressive mystery picnic both featured dishes made from locally-grown fresh ingredients.
Prom Coast Festival committee president Lynne Lyon said she was “exhausted but so very happy with the way the Festival ran over the weekend.
“Starting on Friday morning and finishing on Monday afternoon, everything ran beautifully, and all except for one of the Festival’s ticketed events sold right out,” she said.
“A big thank you to the local Prom Coast community for their wonderful support, as well as to all of the visitors who travelled to South Gippsland especially to enjoy the Festival.
“I tried to get to as many events as I could over the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed every one of them.
“It was really fabulous to see the people turning up with their rugs and chairs ready for an afternoon of entertainment from local musicians and others from beyond the district at the Picnic in the Park held at the Foster Showgrounds on Saturday,” Lynne said.
“It was a perfect afternoon with the sun shining, music playing, entertainment for the kids, and food and drinks available if you hadn’t bought your own picnic hamper.”
“On Sunday, about 15 lots of gourmet adventurers could choose to go on a short or long version of the Prom Coast Food Collective’s fantastic Mystery Picnic, which started from the Meeniyan Recreations Reserve,” she said.
“We collected our pre-booked hampers from Meeniyan first, and they were fabulously well-presented with freshly-made quiches, salads, pastries and sourdough, and local cheeses and pastes, together with paper plates and serviettes and wooden cutlery.
“Everyone who was going on the picnic received a welcome letter and four very clever clues, which had to be solved to work out where each location of the picnic was,” Lynne said.
“First was a lady’s name with a very long drop, which of course was Agnes Falls, then somewhere Tom Jones might have gone swimming so Port Welshpool, followed by a place with a view between two towns starting with F, so the Hoddle Range lookout,” she said.
“The two Fs meant Foster and Fish Creek, on the way to the fourth destination, which was described as a lovely place to visit but you wouldn’t run there – Walkerville!”
“There was such a great vibe over the whole weekend as people were able to get out and enjoy the company of friends and family again, which was something they had been unable to do for most of 2020,” Lynne said.
“It was just so heartening to realise that we can get back to life as we knew it, with care and planning of such events like this year’s Festival, which was deliberately kept low-key this time around because of COVID-19.
“I would think future Prom Coast Festivals will be bigger when our choices and scale don’t need to be restricted,” she said.
“The variety of events at this Festival catered for all age groups and it was particularly pleasing to see all the families with young children enjoying the stories at the Foster Library, the Picnic in the Park and the Lantern Parade at Foster, and the Fish Creek Children’s Literature Day,” Lynne said.
“The Light exhibition’s art installations in Foster’s shop windows will remain for the month of March, and if you can find all 10 artworks, send in your answers and the first entry received with all of the ten artists’ names correctly listed will win a prize.
“I would like to thank a wonderful committee for all the work that has been done leading up to the Festival, and it was also very pleasing to see the number of volunteers offering to help with the running of the events, because without them we wouldn’t be able to have a Festival.
“Lastly I would like to thank the people of the Prom Coast community for supporting the Festival whether through attending events, sponsorship, or donations of prizes for our raffles,” Lynne said.
“It is a pleasure to live in such a wonderful part of the country where we can showcase People, Place and Produce of the Prom Coast so proudly.”
Festival Bake-off results
Judges Awards
- Section A: Cakes – Linda Tay (Raspberry and White Chocolate Cheesecake)
- Section B: Biscuits and Slices – Agnes Van Tiggelen (Apple Speculaas Slice
- Section C: Savoury and Yeast – Lorraine Nicholls (Hot Cross Buns)
- Section D: Children: Secondary Students – Ursula John (Mudcak
- Primary Students – Dana Couper (Lemon and Coconut Cake)
People’s Choice:
- Cakes: Jo Stringer (Armenian Nut Cake
- Biscuits and Slices: Gen Davies (Nut Slice)
- Savoury and Yeast: Jo Stringer (Sausage Rolls)
- Children: Ella Bacon (Cherry Balls)
Thank you to LKD Livestock for sponsoring the Community Bake-off.
If you have a plate to collect from the Bake-off, please phone Liz Kindellan on 0448 256 193.
Photography Project Winners
First place-getters in the Prom Coast Festival Photography Project, as chosen by the local community and Festival goers, are as follows:
- People: We Love the Prom taken by Sebastian Saulwick, and featuring Sylvia Cardona, Paul Saulwick and Gabriel Saulwick.
- Place: Silky Morning taken at Walkerville South by Riley Walker
- Produce: Growing Art taken by Beatrice Imbert.
For a full round-up of all 2021 Prom Coast Festival events, results and contact information see the Prom Coast Festival website at www.promcoast festival.com.au and the Prom Coast Festival 2021 Facebook page.
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