Stone pumpkin to become festival centrepiece

Statue an all-year-round reminder of food festival for tourists and visitors to Goomeri.

A large stone pumpkin will be an all-year-round reminder of the Goomeri Pumpkin Festival. (Photo: Contributed)

A SERIOUSLY large and heavy stone pumpkin erected on a plinth will soon become a focal point for tourists and visitors to Goomeri’s annual Pumpkin Festival

The monument will become a centrepiece of the food festival held on May 29 to 31, 2020.

The four side covers and top were commissioned by Goomeri Pumpkin Festival patron Phyllis Hopf.

The 90-year-old Goomeri resident said she wanted to ensure the ever-growing festival, which attracted more than 18,000 visitors last year, had a permanent all year marker for tourists to learn about what is now Goomeri’s trademark.

A large stone pumpkin will be an all-year-round reminder of the Goomeri Pumpkin Festival. (Photo: Contributed)

Sunshine Coast mosaic artist Heather May proved the decorative covering for what would have otherwise been a plain concrete block below the pumpkin.

“I’d been doing a number of mosaic workshops in Gympie,” she said.

“The woman who owns (the premises) contacted me some years ago and asked if I would start them in her artists’ space.”

The 63-year-old artist said each panel on the side of the pumpkin took at least a week to finish.

“It’s right in the middle of town, in a park,” she said.

The commission could have positive repercussions for Ms May’s artistic career.

“This might lead to other things,” she said.

The stone pumpkin will be officially unveiled by Gympie mayor Mick Curran on Saturday, March 14 at 5.30pm.

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