The Maldon Easter Fair continued its 143-year tradition last weekend and is now Australia’s only continuous running Easter Fair.
The Maldon Easter Fair Committee deserves high praise for keeping the tradition going this year despite the restrictions that have been put in place to slow the spread of coronavirus.
With everyone asked to stay home including thousands of tourists who usually pack the town every Easter, the streets of Maldon were eerily quiet this year.
But the spirit of Easter was still present in local communities, albeit most of it online, via the phone or perhaps a ‘Happy Easter’ sign on the front gate.
The 2020 Maldon Easter Fair started with the lights on the Mt Tarrengower Lookout Tower being switched on last Thursday night.
The Good Friday Open Air Church Service went online this year with the Reverend Des Benfield, the Reverend Wahid Riad and Pastor Gavin Alexander delivering sermons from their respective churches.
And locals enjoyed free Hot Cross Buns at the Maldon Bakery on Good Friday, courtesy of the Maldon Easter Fair Committee.
The Virtual Maldon Easter Parade online was a huge success on Easter Monday attracting more than 80 photographic and video entries. The online film had been viewed 4,700 times on Facebook when the TT went to press.
The online parade featured stacks of colourful, clever entries from youngsters and the young at heart; everyone obviously went to a lot of trouble and it looked like they were having fun along the way.
Several people have said the historic photos taken at parades of yesteryear, that were included at the end of the online film, were very moving and left them with a tear in the eye.
The judges of this year’s Parade were Bendigo West MP Maree Edwards and Procession Coordinator Liz Woodward.
Ms Edwards said, “I loved doing this and had enormous fun putting the entries together. Huge congratulations and thanks to everyone for all the entries. Well done!”
Ms Woodward said, “Congratulations Maldon and the Easter Fair for keeping this event going through these times, this has been a great way of keeping up our community spirit. Also, a huge thanks for all who have put in entries for our first ever online Parade.”
Maldon Easter Fair 2020 Parade results
Best Pet
1st Gizmo Jewson,
2nd Harley with Billie Thompson
Best Cupcakes
1st Ashton,
2nd Stella Robertson
Best Easter Egg
1st Helen’s Son,
2nd Sophie Breewel
Best Lego Master
1st Riley Geddes
2nd Auzzie and Matilda Webster
Best Bike and Rider
1st Ashton,
2nd Quinn & Pippa Mulholland
Best Easter Bonnet
Equal 1st Alyssia Hafford and Emily
Equal 2nd Indi Sobey, Amir and Sophie Pritchard
Best Easter Drawing
1st Indy Sobey,
2nd Matilda Webster
Best Billy Cart
1st Cohen Kinross
Best Costume
1st Bailey Geddes,
2nd Henry Boyd
Best Easter Float
1st Nick Perryman
2nd Emily and Nicholas Clarke
Character on Foot
1st Billie Thompson
Best Horse and Rider
Equal 1st Addi Mae and Billie Thompson
Best Teddy Bear
1st Elvie Dodson,
2nd Indi Sobey
Best Family/Private Entry
1st The Brewell Family,
2nd The Robertson Family
Best Community Entry
1st The Cactus Warriors
Best Commercial Entry
1st The Wool Stash,
2nd Maldon Getaways
The Great Aussie Scone
Baker winner to stay with Berryman’s Café who won this last year and kindly sent a photo of the scones they are still creating in their café.
