Yarram’s Tarra Festival put on a parade to remember

The Tarra Festival is held every Easter long weekend in Yarram and is known for its Saturday parade. The Gippsland Monitor went along to check out the floats.

People lined both sides of Commercial Road and its median strip for the 48th parade, where children and adults, from aged from one to 100, dressed up and took part in the festivities.

Throughout the day Invy Horn Jam had the audience dancing. 

“Members of the community wanted to bring the parade back, so they worked together to make it happen,” Tarra Festival committee president Sarah Jensen told the Gippsland Monitor. 

Thousands of people were estimated to have attended on Saturday.

“It is all about the community and is great for local businesses,” said Jensen. “It is great to see everyone’s face, smiling and enjoying the day.”

Local children led many of the community floats, with brightly coloured youngsters welcoming visitors to the town with lively dancing and music.

The Morwell Caledonian Pipe Band belted out some classics on their bagpipes down the main drag.

Volunteers are essential to regional communities, and this was highlighted with the CFA and SES taking part.

Followed by the Woodside Surf Lifesavers.

And the volunteer Coast Guard. 

A parade is not complete without a stilt-walking butterfly,

penny farthings

and a juggling clown on a unicycle. 

People with all sorts of backgrounds took part, including the Filipino Gippsland dancers. 

And Fei Ying with their dragon dance. 

The kids from Yarram Primary School did not disappoint with their brightly coloured rock’n’roll vibes. 

Woodside Primary School embraced the local environment with a giant octopus and an under-the-sea theme.

St Mary’s Primary School stepped back into the 80s. 

Mirridong Services’ Alice in Wonderland float was headed by the Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter.

The parade was rounded out with cars, trucks, tractors and a combine harvester, before finishing with a float from Yarram’s classic Regent Theatre.