It was a cloudy day with scattered rains, but that just added to the ambiance of the 4th Ashford Salami Festival on Saturday.
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Despite the overcast weather, the stalls were open with all manner of culinary and arty delights, the music played on, activities were aplenty, the salami sizzled and the beer was cold.
Salami goers who braved the rain were rewarded with an amazing outing and cured meat of every kind.
But why salami? “Ashford is traditionally a salami growing region. We had a lot of Italians living in our area,” said organiser Lorrayne Riggs of 2 Rivers Pty Ltd, a community development company that aims to encourage economic and social independence for communities and individuals.
“They originally came for the tobacco growing and they continued with salami. And it is a tradition that has carried on for many many years.”
The idea of hosting a festival that pays homage to the salami came as great ideas often do, after a few drinks. “We decided one night after a couple of beers that the town had had a pretty tough year that year with drought and other things,” said Riggs. “We wanted to lift the town’s spirits.”
The result was this festival that pays homage to the salami with food tasting and demos, salami throwing, pig racing and everything else a fan of salami, or just plain good fun, could possibly desire. “All the money goes back into our local community,” said Riggs.
The $1,500 raised from the bar goes to the junior football club, and the $500 raised during the pig races goes to the local pony club, and the group is still counting up the take to give back to the community. No profits are made by the organisers themselves.
Despite the rain, there was a good turnout and 50 stalls, 10 more than last year. The petting farm was also bigger than ever before and even saw the inclusion of McGregor the donkey, who has his own Facebook page.
