Manjimup Cherry Festival- a day full of fun, food and great entertainment

Manjimup Cherry Festival & Big Brook Arboretum

Friday 9th- Sunday 11th December

We were lucky enough to be in the area for the annual Manjimup Cherry Harmony Festival. The day was even better that we expected and we all had a great time. Highlights of the day included:

- The Grand Parade - it began with vintage cars and hot rods then moved to tractors and trucks and before we knew it semi-trailers (from the local farms) were rolling down the narrow, spectator lined street. It was a sight to see.

- Market Stalls - we all enjoyed browsing at the market stalls. Emilia and I picked up some cute earrings and we got lots of fresh produce.

- 'Fingers' aka Mitchell Cullen - this extremely talented musician plays the guitar, banjo, drums, didgeridoo and maracas...and also sings. He also does all his sound adjustments - with his foot. The music was great, and we were gobsmacked by his incredible talent on all the instruments. 

-Head over Heels circus - two street performers entertained us with their circus like antics and we all had a good laugh.

- The Woodchopping - we watched a few of the competitions, including the final. Jackson absolutely loved it and spent quite a bit of the day watching how fast the men could chop a huge piece of red gum in half.

- The blow-up climbing wall - the kids enjoyed the challenge of the the blow up climbing wall, and Jackson was the only child that day to complete all 6 levels in a row. He was dripping sweat by the end!

- The cherries - after chatting with one of the organisers of the festival, he asked the kids to come with him for a moment. When they returned they were holding a box of cherries that he'd given them as a gift. We were so grateful, especially when we tasted the cherries - they were amazing. 

We stayed just out of Manjimup at the Big Brook Arboretum, underneath all the big trees this area is famous for. It was a lovely camp area and we all enjoyed our time in the 'forest'. 

A large timber truck rolling down Main St during the Grand Parade (Jackson was watching it scrape along the tree near us).

Miss Cherry Blossom - the festival's mascot. She took a liking to us and chatted with us several times over the day.

Some of the dancers from the festival, and behind them are the people from the Torres Strait Islands that the government brought over to help with the cherry picking. The organisers said that if it wasn't for their help many of the farms would have struggled to get their fruit picked.

Head over Heels performers - they were very entertaining and we had front row seats.

Jackson was a superstar on the blow-up climbing wall - his arms certainly got a workout!

Pretty impressive how quick they can split the logs.

Fingers- Mitchell Cullen

We were so lucky to see him live (and literally a few metres in front of us). He is such an incredible musician. 

Just strumming the guitar.....whilst shaking maracas, hitting a drum with his left foot, playing the didgeridoo and doing his own sound adjustments with his right foot!!
Check out the videos below - apologies for the terrible camera work, kids kept walking in front of me.

The CHERRIES - delicious.

What is it about joined cherries that make us need to hang them on our ears??

One of the big old trees near our camp.

Jackson used all the fallen down branches around camp to build a cubby, he was very persistent as it fell down a few times! He was very proud of the end result.