Shire of Pingelly’s Heritage Festival attracts 1500 people and takes town back to good old days

Pingelly celebrated its proud heritage headlined by a spectacular ball and events along the main street. The shire’s signature Heritage Festival event took place on April 18 and 19 with penny farthing bicycles, caricaturist Marion Le Crayon, a special Devonshire tea at the cafe and architectural walking tours of the town the main features on the opening day. A bus trip to Moorumbine, the first settled townsite in the area, took people to see St Patrick’s Church, which was consecrated in 1873, and the heritage trail which includes the former courthouse and historical cottages. On April 19, the town’s oval played host to the heritage show with 40 market stalls, vintage cars, static engines and old-fashioned lawn games. A log-chopping contest and a sheepdog demonstration were other attractions which lured 1500 spectators to the proceedings throughout the day. The grand regency ball at a transformed Pingelly Recreation and Cultural Centre was a major hit as townsfolk walked the red carpet dressed in fabulous ball gowns, breeches, tuxedos and cravats for a night of glitz and glamour. Mistress of ceremonies Jane McCabe called the regency dances at the start of the evening before Slim Jim and the Phatts took over to rock the night away. Shire president Jackie McBurney said she hoped the event would grow bigger and better every year. “The weekend was absolutely amazing, it was super-successful,” she said. “It was a shire event but this year we put together an organising committee so we could be community-based as well. “Everyone turned up and the whole town took on the look of the 1900s; it was our signature event for this year but our aim is to make it an annual event.”