The 65th Alexandra Blossom Festival at the weekend was an outstanding success, providing a welcome party for the region following the event’s cancellation last year because of Covid-19, organisers said.
Organisers were delighted with record-breaking crowd numbers, with more than 6000 tickets to Saturday’s Day in the Park pre-sold.
Event manager Martin McPherson said 13,000 to 14,000 people passed through the gates, and 15,000-18,000 spectators were on the streets for the Grand Parade of trucks, vintage cars, floats, florreys, pipe bands and clubs.
Claudia Hammond, representing Alexandra Primary School, was overcome with emotion when she was named 2022 Blossom Festival Queen. Hannah Tait (Alexandra Youth Council) and Julia Anderson (Grans Who Can) were first and second runner-up, respectively.
"It didn’t feel real," Claudia said through streaming tears shortly after being crowned. "I didn’t believe it."
She said the week of events was wonderful for all nine blossom princesses, meeting "so many amazing people in the community".
One of the judges, Sophie Rogers, was the 2019 Blossom Festival Queen and she stressed that the competition was not a beauty pageant, but was judged on the entrants’ involvement in and contributions to the community.
Blossom festival committee chairwoman Sharleen Stirling-Lindsay said it was a "fantastic day and a fabulous weekend".
"People don’t realise that the committee starts working on the blossom festival two weeks after the last one so it was devastating when we had to cancel last year," she said.
"Mardi Gras is all about our community and the Day in the Park is absolutely a family event. There is literally something for everyone."
Children were well-catered for with a kids’ stage featuring a changing roster of colourful acts but many children joined their parents and grandparents in front of the main stage to dance to music those older folk remembered from their own youth.
The Ladykillers — Jackie Clarke, Annie Crummer and Tina Cross, who Mr McPherson called musical royalty — had all ages dancing and singing along with New Zealand classic songs, as did headline act, the Jordan Luck Band.
In keeping with the cross-generational vibe, Luck invited local guitarist George Hazlett on stage to play and solo on Why Does Love Do This To Me and his talent showed as he more than held his own beside his more experienced elders.
Speaking after the show, Hazlett said it was the largest crowd he had played to but he treated it as another live performance, just more special.
Judging of the floats was very close, with the People’s Choice Award won by Grans Who Can with Clifford, The Big Red Dog, by only eight votes.
The Innovative and Creative award went to the Combined Alexandra and Clyde Lions Clubs’ Cat in the Hat float, and the Best Small Float was won by Eat Humble Pie with Life’s a Beach.
The school award went to Alexandra Primary School and the contemporary award was won by the Alexandra BMX Club.
