The bi-inaugural Chinchilla Melon Festival was held this year between February 10th and February 18th. Chinchilla is a small and vibrant township located approximately 300Km West of Brisbane. Once upon a time it was a typically sleepy country town, however in the last few years Chinchilla has become a hive of activity with power stations and coal & gas exploration common place.
The Chinchilla Melon Festival celebrates all things melon including water melon, rock melon and honey dew. The week of the festival culminates on the Saturday with back to back events taking place from very early in the morning. Patrons are encouraged to take part and experience the whole event starting with a poets breakfast and finishing late in the evening with a free concert.
The Melon Festival is a family oriented event with lots of fun things for the kids to do, some of which include:
- Pip spitting
- Melon bungy
- Melon skiing
- Melon smashing
It is recommended that you bring an older set of clothes for your children if you intend to let them loose for the Chinchilla Melon Festival. Due to the nature of the event, a lot of the activities involve broken and smashing melons; which get quite sticky and makes a bit of a mess. You’re kids will love it, its a whole bunch of fun!
This year everyone was privileged to witness Australia reclaim a Guiness World Record for the most water melons smashed in sixty seconds. You’re probably thinking that you could smash a whole lot of water melons in sixty seconds; well you probably could with your hands but the record is for using your head! The record has been floating back and forward between a bunch of Italians and Australians for the last few years. Fortunately, this time our Australian competitor stamped his authority on the title – beating out the existing record by seven water melons. Amazingly, he was so far in front of the existing record that he actually ran out of water melons to bust on the competition table – so maybe he could have got a handful more in!
If you’re looking for something fun to do with the family in February 2009 (I know it seems like a long way off), you should consider the Chinchilla Melon Festival but remember to book your accommodation early; its a very popular event!