Experience the Thrill of Billy Cart Racing at Macclesfield Gravity Festival (Image Supplied)
The Macclesfield Gravity Festival is a weekend of high speed downhill go kart racing and fun things to do for all the family. Macclesfield is a small South Australian town in the
beautiful Battunga country south of Adelaide, and the Gravity Festival is a major attraction for the town.
Local legend is that the mythical Dr Maccles discovered in 1840 that the Macclesfield area had more gravity than anywhere else in the world, and since 2013 billy cart racers from all about South Australia have been keen to prove this theory correct. The Gravity Festival is the brainchild of local resident Fred Keal, with the support of the Battunga Country Lions and the Mount Barker District Council.
Is This Where the Mythical Dr Maccles Discovered the Gravity Field in Macclesfield? (Image State Library SA PRG 742/5/176)
On Saturday April 2 the free Gravity Festival kicks off with the CFS Cup in the morning. The CFS Cup is an opportunity for those zany CFS brigade members to let their hair down at the end of the fire season. Free billy carts are provided for any CFS crew mad enough to risk life and limb to test Dr Maccles' theory, and the winner gets to keep the cup for a year.
Any billy carts that survive the CFS cup intact are available for the local businesses to compete in the afternoon Business Cup. Carts of all colours are available, but which is the fastest? You'll need to come and see to find out!
At the Start Line, Macclesfield Gravity Festival (Image Supplied)
Between the races on Saturday there will be demonstrations from the Huffy Sliders and a wide variety of convoluted contraptions. Look out for the legendary gravity surfer who plans to ride the newly discovered gravity waves. If you want a change from the go kart racing there will be 'millions' of market stalls to browse, selling everything from spanners to sombreros.
The clean country air is bound to make you hungry as a horse, but with food stalls selling sizzling snags, saucy snitties and lots of other fresh country cooking, there will be plenty of food for all.
From 4pm until 10pm on Saturday free live entertainment from local bands will keep your toes tapping. Pick up a glass of wine or a beer and let yourself loose until 10pm, when it's lights out until Sunday.
Fun Things to Do in Adelaide: G-Bike Racing (Image Supplied)
Sunday April 3 sees the junior and senior G-bikes compete in the morning before the main event. Home made billy carts of all sorts will race down the hill in a desperate last ditch attempt to dominate and uphold the honour of the mythical Dr Maccles. There is both junior and a senior class, with many father-son teams there to demonstrate what hours of male bonding in the shed can produce. Or not.
In the break between racing you can nip over to the
Macclesfield Market stalls for hand made artisan goods, local fresh food, and plants for your garden. You don't have to miss out on your shopping while you're in Macclesfield.
Defying Gravity, With the Help of a Tractor at Macclesfield in the Battunga Country (Image Supplied)
Follow the fiendish fans of billy cart racing as they get a grip on gravity. There's a
Facebook page and
a website to get the good oil on this gear. This year the Macclesfield Gravity Festival is supporting charities again - the
Williams Syndrome Association of SA , and
Beyond Blue as it deals with men who aren't travelling too well.
There are lots more fun things to see and do in the
Battunga country, so don't be in a hurry to race back home. Wineries, Kuitpo Forest and the Prospect Hill Museum are all close by, so enjoy the area in the pleasant autumn weather.
