BY DAKOTA TAIT
The Kurri Kurri Mulletfest has celebrated its fifth anniversary, for the first weekend after most COVID restrictions were dropped by the State Government.
Masks were off and mullets were out, with the controversial hairstyles competing in categories such as everyday, extreme, grubby, ranga, and vintage, as well as junior competitions.
Just over $3,000 was raised for the Mark Hughes Foundation at the event.
Mulletfest Founder Laura Johnson says it was an impressive showcase on Saturday.
"I tell you what, the mullet quality is spectacular," Ms Johnson said. "You can't ask for better."
"They're really upping their game now, and I think having heats all over Australia, we're going to continue to see improvements in our mullet quality throughout the year."
"There was lots of, what I would call hairdresser-intervention, so quite a bit of colour, quite a bit of barbering and design work."
The celebration saw coverage as far as the UK and the United States, and the event's now set to tour the State, as well as Queensland, Victoria, and the Northern Territory, through to October.
An international category also saw competitors from Belgium and Sweden head down to Kurri Kurri.
Ms Johnson says it's exciting to be able to bring such a big event to the Hunter, and from there, to the world stage.
"Hospitality workers are really being pushed outside their comfort zone to be flexible, and to really think outside the square about how they can safely bring people together," Ms Johnson said.
"That was our goal at Mulletfest headquarters, how do we continue with our goals, which is to create a tourism injection and to bring people together, but do it in a COVID-safe way, so that we're not putting anyone in danger, we're not putting anyone at risk."
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| Image credit: Mulletfest |
