Mary Poppins Market day draws a crowd

Averyll Loft | 3rd July 2009

Clutching colourful hand-crafted umbrellas, snow cones and balloons, hundreds of Fraser Coast children delighted in the fun and magic of Mary Poppins yesterday.

MARY Poppins Market Day helped kick off a week of annual festivities celebrating Maryborough's connection to Mary Poppins author P. L. Travers.

The highlight of the festival will be on Sunday when Maryborough's Portside and Queens Park are taken over by characters straight from the pages of the novel, sidewalk artists, jugglers and heaps of family entertainment.

Yesterday Arty Brellas - an umbrella painting workshop - was a huge hit. Owner Trisha Stedman from Western Australia said she would be at Queens Park again on Sunday with her paint, dye, glitter and umbrellas.

“The beauty of it all is that children love creating their own umbrella and so do adults,” she said.

“It's therapeutic and lots of fun.”

Hervey Bay's Sahaila Von Nida, 10, was smitten with her umbrella creation and looking forward to putting it to use in the grand parade on Sunday.

“I'm really excited. I love Mary Poppins. I'm working on a costume for Sunday.”

Mary Poppins, aka Carmel Murdoch, was floating around singing, posing for pictures and spreading the word of Sunday's Mary Poppins Festival in the Park yesterday.

She said the great thing about the event was that “there will be so much that is free.”

“It's going to be a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious day!”

What's On

Today

5pm Sing-along Mary Poppins movie night, Portside

Sunday

10am Merry Mary Morning Tea, Portside

11am Penny farthing racing

11.15am Grand Parade

Noon Great Nanny Challenge

12.30pm Chimney Sweep Challenge

2pm Penny farthing racing