The weather turned bad at the worst possible time last year with the heaviest downpour occurring during the festival parade and while there was rain on Friday night and Saturday morning, festival chairman Neville Campbell was still pleased with the result.

He said the use of a marquee again proved to be of great value as it allowed for the talent quest on Friday night to continue.

“We had 12 entrants in the talent quest and we were quite happy with that when it is in its first year. There were a fair few watching despite the rain; having the marquee was very effective,” he said.

The eventual winners of the quest were Alkira Blair-Bain in the 0-8years, Sophie Macansh and April Correy in the 9-12years and Michael Coombs and Jakob Horvath in the 13-17years.

The street parade got underway on Saturday with the absence of last year’s umbrellas but organisers were disappointed with the number of floats entered.

“There were lots of bikes and cars but there weren’t as many floats as we would have liked,” Mr Campbell said.

First prize in the street parade competition was the Glen Innes Youth Council ahead of St Joseph’s School and Emmaville Central School.

Entertainment then moved to King Edward Park where several local musicians featured.

The beardies were also out in force to compete in the beard growing competition. Winners were Peter Smith (most colourful), Will Hughes (scruffiest), Wally Phillips (most eccentric), Jim Pickstop (best groomed) and John Dunnington (longest beard).

Visiting Ulysses Club members contributed much to this event as they came to town for the annual Glen Innes meet and greet. Organiser Jack Parry said the riders came from near and far to make for more than 120 motorbikes.

“There were 208 people for our dinner on Saturday night and probably over 120 bikes in total,” he said. “One group from Mt Lindsay had 40 people and we also had visitors from as far away as the Blue Mountains, Brisbane and even Western Australia.”