Flourishing festival back for more fun

There will be no sad faces in Onslow at the end of June with the return of the biennial Passion of the Pilbara Festival, headlined by Aussie band Mental as Anything.

From June 26-27, the Shire of Ashburton will host a culinary showcase with a bit of fishing and music on the side.

First launched in 2010, along with the opening of the Onslow Community Garden, the festival is one of the town's largest events.

This year's drawcards will include funnyman Mark Bin Bakar, also known by his stage persona of Mary G, the Mackeral Islands Fishing Competition and Winning Catch Cook Off, where celebrity chefs Mark Olive and Pete Manifis will match up in a heated kitchen battle cooking up the catch of the day from the competition.

Olive and Manifis will also share their expertise and comprehensive knowledge of Australian native food in a series of interactive cooking demonstrations in the community garden.

Art will also have its place at the festival, with sculptures in the sand and a display of local photography and artwork at Nikki's Restaurant.

Entertainment and activities for the young ones will take place in the Kid Zone and a guided tour of the Wheatstone Project is also on offer.

Ashburton president Kerry White said the surging popularity of the event brought out the true colours of the community.

"Passion of the Pilbara has been a huge success since we first launched the initiative in 2010," she said.

"Over 1100 people have attended, with the benefits filtering out to countless families, visitors, residents and businesses of Onslow."

Onslow Community Garden president Geoff Herbert said since the festival first spawned, the garden had grown stronger with a big bounty due this year after mass rainfall experienced on the Onslow coast this year.

"Kale, salad leaves, crops of asparagus, chillies, eggplants, basil, and tomatoes are all coming through now," he said.

Mr Herbert said by the time the festival rolled around, the broccoli, snow peas, potatoes, and dragon fruit should all be ready.

Mr Herbert said it was a credit to the town the garden had run so well over the years.