Last Sunday was the Port Macquarie Beer & Cider Festival and the organisers literally couldn’t have ordered better weather for the day! Set against the gorgeous backdrop of the beautiful Hastings River, Westport Park was transformed into a family friendly festival with the aim to “celebrate all the good things in life; beer, cider, food, games and music” which it certainly did!
With the sun shining we made it our mission to (between the three of us) try as many of the fifty different types of beers and ciders that were available from both local and Australia-wide brewers. Whilst we didn’t quite hit the 50 mark we did manage to sample many of the delicious brews that were being showcased from the very passionate brewers.
The festival had something for everyone with food trucks, games, a jumping castle for the kids, live music, keg rolling & keg tossing competitions! The organisers even had a special bus to take festival attendees home so no one had to worry about driving home.
One of the most entertaining parts of the day was the Beer Keg Toss which was inspired by the long tradition of the Highland Games! If you’ve been a longtime reader of the blog then you know that we’re big lovers of all things Scotland as we absolutely fell in love with the capital Edinburgh as well as the stunning Highland region when we visited earlier this year!
The Beer Keg Toss required a combination of technique, timing and pure power in order to succeed and some of the participants were seriously impressive with their throws! One poor bloke even disclosed his shoulder throwing the keg and after being treated by the medics he came back to throw with his other arm which the crowd absolutely loved, a true blue Aussie legend!
For $25 a ticket (or $35 on the day) I feel they could throw in a free drink token but other than that it was certainly money well spent and an awesome day out! We had so much fun in the sunshine and certainly found some new favourite beers & ciders! We will certainly be there next year and hopefully the weather will be just as perfect and the drinks just as delicious!
Have you been to a festival like this? We’d love to hear all about it!
