One of the world’s great cultural events has come and gone..
The Beanie Festival.
It is held over several days and this year was on from Friday June 26 to Monday 29 June 2009 at Witchetty’s in the Araluen Centre, Alice Springs Cultural Precinct.
I wasn’t there this year but in the past have bought several beanies, including my favourite which people have unfavourably compared to a tea cosy. It can’t be true as the beanie is a green cylinder with a flat top on it. No self respecting teapot would dream of wearing it.
The beanie below I also bought at the Beanie Festival. You probably noticed on first glance the dignity that this beanie gives the wearer. I reserve this for special occasions, particularly for important meetings where it is essential I add to my ‘gravitas’.
But get this. The beanie was sent across from Canada! They send them in from all around the world to sell or to enter in one of the competitions and win up to $300.
For a beanie.
This year there were 13 different sections to enter your beanie. Categories included the ‘Natural Fibres Beanie’, ‘Spirit of the Land’, ‘The Eileen Bladon Tea- Cosy Prize’ and of course the ‘New Wave Beanie Prize’
It’s not bad for an exhibition that started in 1997 as a beanie party. It was organised to sell beanies crocheted by Aboriginal women in remote communities. But now it is much much bigger than that. The aboriginal women art groups are still there giving demonstrations on beanie making or grass weaving and queues of people wanting to get in the door.
Read about the history of the festival here or look at the entire Beanie Festival Website.
And next year be there!
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