Gods smile on Yakkerboo

By Melissa Meehan
AS THE weather gods held off the rain and hail, Pakenham’s faithful joined Yakkerboo Festival celebrations in the main street of town.
President of the festival Graeme Moore described Sunday’s festival as a pretty good day and “the best crowd he has ever seen”.
“I think there are a number of reasons – new people moving into Pakenham, education about what Yakkerboo is and signage also helps,” he said.
“It may also have something to do with holding the festival on a long weekend.”
The decision to hold the festival on the Moomba long weekend was always a gamble, according to Mr Moore.
“There was always a question mark, there were arguments for and against, some people said it was stupid but who really knows unless we give it a try,” Mr Moore said.
“It looks like it paid off.”
Despite Sunday being a resounding success, poor weather and attendance at Saturday night’s carnival saw it cancelled.
“We (the committee) were there, but I didn’t think anyone would show up in the weather that we had,” he said.
“There was no need to even turn on the rides.”
As Mr Yakkerboo braved the stormy conditions, Mr Moore said he was lucky to come away relatively unscathed.
“He was outside during the storm and I did notice a couple of holes in the top of him where the hail must have hit,” he said.
“But luckily Pakenham wasn’t as badly hit as other areas.”
While Mr Moore was worried about the Yakkerboo Festival, his own home in Nar Nar Goon North was flooded in the storms.
Against all belief the sun poked through the clouds on Sunday and provided festival goers with perfect conditions.
“There is only one time of year that I am very religious,” Mr Moore said.
“And let me tell you it is right now – its very hard to adjust weather 12 months in advance.”