Planning for the 2026 Bloom@Doon has already started following a successful first-time event on Saturday.

The Bloom@Doon was a fundraiser for the Bonnie Doon Community Centre and the Bonnie Doon CFA – a joint project assisted by the Maindample CFA.

The garden expo was organised for Bonnie Doon after the Maindample CFA found it could not run its annual garden day after 11 years of organising a similar event.

Committee members for the Bloom@Doon were very pleased with the results of Saturday’s event despite the very inclement weather.

When the heavens opened up on Friday afternoon Bloom@Doon committee members were beside themselves having to work either in the pouring rain or inside with preparations.

But committee member Jeanette Hopgood said they were thrilled with how the day had gone and the number of people who came out to enjoy the entertainment, shopping for garden plants and ornaments and patronising the food stalls.

“We had a few stallholders pull out at the last minute due to weather and one van could not make it after trees fell over his driveway and he could not get out of his property,” Ms Hopgood said.

“But despite that the day has gone off very well and we will start planning for next year – we will discuss what we need to change and what went right overall,” she said.

The winner of the scarecrow competition was “Alby Lockhart with friends” created by the Lockhart family; 2nd went to ‘Liz Madeline Buddle’ created by the Yooralla team.