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Great FitzRoy
Mussel Fest
January 10th 2009
The Boat Club, Port FitzRoyGreat Barrier Island
 

The following article and photographs are courtesy of the Barrier Bulletin, Issue No.493

2008 Mussel Fest - 'Better than ever'

There were lots of good things being said about the conduct of the Mussel Fest this year. The new approach of splitting the festival across the public venues at Port FitzRoy appears to have eased the congestion which has been the subject of criticism previously.

With the Boat Club still the centre for the food stalls, and patrons entertained during the day by 'The Great Brain Robbers' blues band, the ‘Landing Reserve’ became the alcohol free venue for the other stalls, as well as a ‘bouncy bus’ and a huge inflated slide for the kids. It has to be said that some of the kids must have been in their second childhood. Here, the crowd were entertained by 'Sean Kelly and Friends', a great Irish band. (But aren’t they all!). Still more chose to have time out relaxing by the harbour or watched the world go by from picnic tables outside the store.

With the approach of dusk, the Fullers ferry left with its crowd of passengers, and the blues band, but that didn’t seem to make a dent in the numbers at the club, as the Irish band moved on up the hill, showed off their versatility, and really had the place rockin’.