By Oliver Winn
The Upper Yarra Museum cranked the dial to 11 with the Crank Up festival – a two day event that featured all things mechanical and historical.
Established in 1978 at the Upper Yarra Museum, this festival proved to be a hit once again, with a substantial crowd turning up on both days.
Upper Yarra Historical Society president John Bramley said the event was a success and it was an exciting moment for the Yarra Junction community.
“It was quite good, we had the machinery from the Yarra Valley Machinery Preservation Society, we had a steam truck there, Heritage Draught Horse Club horses,” he said.
On the first day of the event, vintage machinery littered the area and there were blacksmithing and heritage trades demonstrations.
The Mr Excited Show and Shine classic car show drew in large crowds as people from all over the Yarra Ranges checked out 120 vintage cars.
Attracting the largest amount of visitors was the woodchop competition where the participants demonstrated their prowess with the axe and chainsaw.
“We had various food vans, various stalls such as the Red Cross and the spinners and weavers,” Mr Bramley said.
“There was something for everybody with a jumping castle and donkey rides for the young ones.”
Providing the soundtrack to the event were live bands which played on the Saturday.
On theme for the event, the band Franklin, Millard and the Viscounts rocked out some rockabilly tunes alongside the hard rocking Mooroolbark five-piece Blue Suede Kings.
Mr Bramley said the event takes a lot of preparation, but it paid off in the end.
“We’ve been working on it for the last few months, trying to get things organized such as the temporary fencing and extra toilets,” he said.
The festival is one of the main fundraising events the Upper Yarra Museum holds each year to ensure it can keep running.
The event is also funded by the Yarra Ranges Council and the Bendigo Community Bank.
The Crank Up festival has been running for 35 years now, only stopping for Covid-19 lockdowns, yet it shows no signs of cranking down.
