Mussels to take over Portarlington

Portarlington Mussel Festival's Kyla Field, left, Micki Monahan, Richard Underwood, John Mitchell and Jenny Banks. (Ivan Kemp) 382650_02

It’s time to get cracking as the Portarlington Mussel Festival returns for a day of great food and entertainment.

The festival will showcase different music, food and markets as it takes over Portarlington Park from 9.30am to 5pm on Saturday, January 13.

President Richard Underwood said there was something for everyone to enjoy, with more than 200 market stalls and live music on the day.

“We’re keen to showcase the mussels which, in past years we’ve moved somewhere around 10 tonnes of mussels at the festival that’s both cooked and taken home,” he said.

“The other main attraction is our entertainment, we’ve got five stages, and… we’ve got our cooking demonstration marquee as well, which is always popular.”

“We’ve also got a children’s area which will have the usual things like face painting and bouncing castles and the inflatable slides, and we’ve also got a number of roaming acts.”

Mr Underwood said it would be his last year with the festival and hoped it would be a successful and safe event.

“I just want it to be another wonderful, successful community-organised festival in which close to 18 community organisations are involved,” he said.

The event is entirely volunteer-run, attracting visitors from across the state to celebrate and enjoy the local mussel industry.

Entry into the event is a $5 donation per adult and free for kids.