Thorpdale's Spud Fest draws thousands in scorching 35-degree heat

Around 7000 people flocked to the Thorpdale Recreation Reserve on Sunday, March 9, for the bi-annual Thorpdale Potato Festival. The event was a celebration of all things potatoes — or as locals call them: spuds!

Thorpdale Potato Festival Vice President Ben Jenkins hoped for a few thousand more, but said the 35-degree weather may have impacted turnout.

“The Thorpdale Potato Festival is a fundraiser for the local community, with all the proceeds going back to local community groups,” Ben told the Gippsland Monitor.

Through a grants process, the event distributes funds raised among deserving local organisations, including the Country Fire Authority, primary schools, kindergartens, playgroups, community halls, scouts and sporting clubs. 

It is likely that without the money raised by the festival, many of the town’s community groups would not be funded.

The last festival in 2023 put $76,000 back into the community.   

The event, known to locals as the Spud Fest, is run by an unpaid committee of 20 to 25 volunteers, with well over 100 individuals helping out on the day. 

“They are volunteering, whether with their own community group or stall or one of the many hands needed to do different jobs,” Ben said.  

At this year’s Spud Fest, you would have found the Thorpdale CFA marshalling the parking, the Thorpdale Angling club marshalling the market stalls, the Thorpdale Cricket club serving the hot Thorpdale potato chips, the Thorpdale Primary School on the sausage sizzle and the Thorpdale Football Netball Club running the bar, to name a few, but not all the community groups involved. 

The entire festival celebrates the rich history of potato farming in Thorpdale, a town and area known for quality potatoes. 

There was spud picking, spud bag throwing, spud eating, farming talks, hessians on the field, cooking demonstration, chips fell from the sky and Chippy, the spud fest mascot handing out free chips.

A highlight is the last event of the day, the Vin Rowe Spud Challenge, where young and not-so-young competitors pick up a 50kg bag of spuds, throw them over their shoulder and run 300 metres around the oval.

This year, like most years, the winner, Campbell, did a “Bradbury” — overtaking the leading runners when they fell five metres from the finish.