100 Things To Do You’ve Never Heard Of #093 Roll with the Pumpkins

Forget about carving pumpkins for Halloween. Give ’em a strong push and roll ’em down the hill! The centrepiece of Queensland’s annual Pumpkin Festival in Goomeri is the Great Australian Pumpkin Roll, which is kind of self-explanatory. The local police and mayors of South Burnett roll off to open the festival – directly down Policeman’s Hill, which could be why the head-to-head so far has the police streets in front. Past guests for the great roll have also included Queensland Minister Margaret Keech, who tried her arm a couple of years back. More than 300 rollers cover Policeman’s Hill and adjacent areas with pumpkins of all shapes and sizes (you never really know where they’ll end up), and there’s a parade, various quirky pumpkin competitions (biggest, best dressed etc), loads of family fun, live music, art, crafts and markets with up to 200 stalls throughout Goomeri. Around 13,000 visitors make this little town a place full of activity and action during the festival – so why not make it one more? It’s held on the last Sunday of May each year, so be sure to warm up your rolling arm.

WHERE // Goomeri is in Kilkivan Shire on the Burnett Highway around 265km northwest of Brisbane. More info at www.goomeri.org.au/pumpkinfest.

DID YOU KNOW? // According to pumpkinnook.com, the largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 681kg, and was grown by Ron Wallace of Greene, Rhode Island.