NOT even heavy rain could dampen the spirits of visitors at Pakenham’s Yakkerboo festival over the weekend.
As rain poured on Sunday morning, many still lined the streets waiting to catch a glimpse of the action.
Though organisers were forced to cancel the parade, much of the event still went ahead including the craft market and cavalcade.
It was the first cancellation of the annual Yakkerboo parade that Graham Treloar could remember, throughout his long involvement with the event.
“The weather was disappointing, but people still came, which was great to see,” he said.
“Considering the circumstances, it was another successful Yakkerboo.”
Via a statement released on Facebook, Yakerboo committee president Michael Porter said that the decision to call off the parade was a hard one.
“As president it was my call today to decide to proceed or cancel the parade during a downpour, not an easy decision,” Mr Porter said.
“I went to every float group and asked if they wanted to go or cancel.
I had about three wanting to proceed and the rest wanted to cancel so given we had little kids getting saturated, floats were starting to fall apart I made the very hard decision and called it off.”
Though the parade was cancelled, the festival’s annual cavalcade went ahead. Around 30 vintage vehicles were showcased through Pakenham, much to the delight of locals lining the street.
The winner of the cavalcade was David Weatherhead’s 1924 Model T Ford Taxi, dubbed the ‘Tynong Taxi’.
The results of the colouring competition were announced, with Sabrina Gilmour, Olivia Woodberry and Caile Armstrong taking out prizes in the five and under category; Maddison Asher, Lily Dinsdale and Rowan Carman in the 6-10 category; and Jessica Layton in the 11 and above category.
And for those deterred by the rain, the man known universally as “Uncle” says he’s hopeful the weather will be better next year.
“I can’t ever remember having to cancel the parade, it’s generally a nice time of year.
“Even with the rain, it was still a great event.”
