Beanies, Beanies, Beanies

The Rotary Club of Boorowa hosted special guest Deb Everson-White, Vice President and entrant in the famous Alice Springs Beanie Festival on Wednesday night, May 29.

Rotarians and their guests were enthralled by Ms Everson-White’s presentation and the display of beanies she brought to Boorowa.

Beanies are crocheted, but they are also knitted, felted, sewn and made from a variety of fabrics including camel hair, emu feathers, baling twine and a myriad of resources.

The beanie festival runs for four days in June (cooler in Alice Springs) and attracts entries not just from the Northern Territory but from around Australia and even from overseas.

Included in the four-day festival are workshops, presentations, displays and sales of beanies.

In 2023, there were more than 6,000 beanies at the festival and it was estimated that there could be 7,000 wonderfully creative beanies entered in this year’s festival.

Started in 1997 by a lady called Adi Dunlop, along with a small group of volunteers, it was decided to showcase the crocheting skills and creative talents of women in remote communities by holding a Beanie Party.

Since then it has grown into a large festival that is known throughout the world with people entering and visiting from overseas and around Australia to Alice Springs in June just to see the beanies in the competition.

A proportion of the money raised from the sale of beanies is distributed in local, remote communities, including Purple House, a specialist dialysis centre in the Northern Territory.

Ms Everson-White brought a range of beanies displaying the creative use of fabric and design to show Rotarians and guests.

She ended her presentation by inviting the attendees to visit the Alice Springs Beanie Festival and share the experience if they had the opportunity.

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