The 2026 Wandiligong Nut Festival was another smashing success, with thousands of people in attendance last Friday and Saturday.

This year's participants enjoyed hours of live music, browsed a selection of local stalls, sampled some freshly roasted chestnuts thanks to the joint efforts of the Alpine Multi-Skills Group (AMSG) and Bright United Men's Shed (BUMS), and joined in a variety of activities including hoola-hooping, Jenga, devil-sticks, juggling, sack-racing, sword-making and more, over a pair of perfect weather days.

Wandi Nut Festival committee president, Lee Rosser, said the festival was a great way to get both the community and visitors all involved in a celebration of local life.

"We're essentially a local event at the end of the day," he said.

"We have a lot of tourism, but Wandi still has a lot of produce and this is our busiest time; our last hurrah before winter, essentially.

"This festival showcases what the Wandi community does best...we facilitate the site itself and the community colours it in and that's what makes it so special.

"A massive thanks to the community as this wouldn't be possible without them."

As the first year the festival had started on a Friday, Mr Rosser said the schedule went really well and everyone had a great time.

"I think we'll stick with the Friday-Saturday structure in future," he said.

"Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day, it's good to see everyone out and about and we were expecting big numbers for our big headline act in the afternoon.

"Our kids zone and stalls all had activities which were very much tactile experiences for kids and families to do throughout the day."

Kellie Dissegna, who rode from Bright with her family to attend on Saturday, said she looked forward to eating the roasted chestnuts above all.

"I love watching them roast the chestnuts in person," she said.

"I love eating them, too: I tried them with butter and salt, as recommended and they were very good.

"This was a great outing and I look forward to returning next year."

Stuart Robertson from Alpine Nuts said the festival is usually their biggest event of the year.

Anna Robilliaid, one of the AMSG volunteers, said constant supervision was the key to a perfectly-roasted chestnut, with the team super busy on Saturday.

"We roast the chestnuts for one hour and rotate them regularly, so they don't burn," she said.

"From there, we pack them up to steam before they're ready to serve."

Jenny Young from AMSG said they are always looking for more participants.

"We do heaps of activities; anything from information sessions about health and wellbeing, to hiking, cycling, bike-packing, maintenance, plus welding and woodwork in collaboration with the BUMS," she said.

"Whatever you would like to be involved in, the AMSG would be up for it.

"Also, any fellas out there can also join in with BUMS...it's a great place to be."