Adding some colour to the day: Tongala-based owner of The Smoothi Truck, Jenny Willemsen, was flat out during the four-hour food and musical festival, which attracted hundreds to the lawns of Mangan St in front of the soundshell on Sunday for the Tongala Eats and Beats Festival. Photos: Rohan Aldous
If Tongala was a boxer and Campaspe Shire Council’s tourism community was the WBF (World Boxing Federation) the tiny dairy farming township would be considered a lightweight, but after staging yet another super-successful Eats and Beats Festival the town continues to punch well above its weight.
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Jason Kelley and his Tongala Development Committee group can afford to sit back, at least for a minute or two, and admire what they have achieved — an alcohol free family festival that focuses on community interaction and delivering quality entertainment at a next-to-nothing rate on a beautiful spring afternoon.
This is on the back of the Easter and Christmas hay bale trails, the continued development of the town’s mural art and the growing reputation of Tongala as a major war memorial town.
And while the development group is not responsible for all of these additions to the landscape, it certainly owns Eats and Beats.
The four-hour Sunday festival featured three artists from the region and a host of vendors, who not only provided food and entertainment for adults and children, but also made a small and eclectic market offering.
Jenny Willemsen is now a Tongala person, her small business adding to the enormous flavour of the event.
She bought The Smoothi Truck just as COVID-19 hit, the business having previously been a regular feature of The Esplanade at St Kilda.
“I am a chef by trade. I started working in Gippsland pubs before doing the course at TAFE and came to Tongala four years ago because I could afford to buy some land for my quarter horses,” Jenny said.
Up until late last month Jenny was working at a Tongala childcare centre, but will now focus exclusively on her small business.
“It is something I can do on my own, but my border (Keiran, who continues to work at the child care centre) helps me out at busy events, like Tongala was on Sunday.”
Most of The Smoothi Truck products are made using either yoghurt or sorbet, so they are not all entirely devoted to the Tongala dairy theme.
“Sorbet stays frozen a lot longer on a hot day and is a good non-dairy option,” Jenny said.
She was at the Tongala event two years ago, but this was only her second “home-town’’ event.
“It was very busy. We did about 100 slushies and smoothies and the most popular were the Pineapple Dancing and the Mango Licious flavours,” she said.
Jenny now has her sights set on the next stage of her business, a food trailer almost double the size of her existing truck.
“My son is a boiler maker and he is going to start work on the trail this summer. It should be ready by the middle of next year,” she said.
No doubt the Tongala Development Group will be keen to lock Jenny into the 2024 festival as the Eats and Beats Festival continues to build on the momentum of previous years.
Throwing in a line: Three-year-old Kyabram ‘’fisherman’’ Rex Vanderdonk was dressed appropriately for the Spring conditions that greeted festival goers on Sunday at Tongala. The children’s entertainment allowed parents to enjoy themselves in the enclosed environment.
Balancing up: Harvey Moore from Kyabram had almost mastered these stilts during the Eats and Beats festival which was a favourite with district families as it was an alcohol free family focussed on providing a family and community celebration.
Table for four: Five-year-old Amber Campbell (left) with her twin brothers Logan and Ethan, 7, and younger brother Reece, three, on the Mangan Street lawns with some refreshments at lunchtime on Sunday.
Spring sizzle: Enjoying a sausage at the Eats and Beats Festival were Hanna Hughes and Flo Beach.
Timely reminder: Tongala Fire Brigade firefighter Ashley Mumford and his group provided a reminder to the community that there is a hot summer ahead and supporting the Tongala brigade was an important part of the festival program.
Day on the Green: A silhouette of Sunny Side Up Trio lead singer Emma-Jane Law dominates this photograph, which shows the large crowd in attendance at the festival.
Sunny Side Up: Lead singer Emma-Jane Law with guitarist Gabe Chowanetz at the Tongala soundshell on Sunday. The pair combined with keyboard player Glen Stewart to perform alongside Paul Richards and Drew Walker at the Eats and Beats festival.
