The skirts were full and the Brylcreem jars were nearing empty in Kurri Kurri, my home town, in my electorate last weekend for the annual Nostalgia Festival. Mother Nature turned on some magnificent autumn days for the annual celebration of old time rock-and-roll, which attracts tens of thousands of people to Kurri Kurri each year to enjoy the music, the fashion, the classic cars and the dancing of the fifties and sixties. Devotees go to great lengths to dress up and look the part, in their full circle skirts and slicked back sides, and the show and shine of classic cars is a true testament to the power of chamois on chrome.

It was my great honour to officially open the festival, along with Cessnock Mayor Bob Pynsent and Miss Cessnock City 2015, Emma Myers. I also had the great pleasure of judging the inaugural cake competition, held by Kurri Kurri Public School. It was great to see the school involved in the annual festival, and I want to praise the teachers and students, who went all-out to provide so much more for visitors at the festival to do and see. Kurri Kurri is just an awesome town. I may be biased since I grew up there and only live up the road. But the annual Nostalgia Festival is a great way for us all to show it off. I officially welcome all members of the House to come and enjoy the Nostalgia Festival on the last weekend in March in Kurri Kurri.