A record crowd flocked to the Lismore Turf Club yesterday under clear blue skies for the annual Italian festival LisAmore!

It is always difficult to estimate the size of a crowd at a free event; however, if 2023 was said to have been between 3,000 and 4,000 people, 2024 would have been between 5,000 and 6,000 people.

Cars were parked along Winterton Parade, down to the old Richmond River High School, as well as the thousands parked inside the Turf Club.

Mayor Steve Krieg told the Lismore App, "It was absolutely fantastic for the town. And the best thing is we haven’t had the weather hanging over our heads. We had a nice run of sunshine, and that put a bit more optimism into the community. This was a fantastic showcase of everything our regional city has to offer and also pays tribute to its heritage."

The Italian Moretti beer sold out, the red and white wine was close to running dry, the gelato queue had about 30 people in it all day, as did the pizza truck and the much-loved cannoli sold at about 1pm. People could not get enough of any Italian cuisine.

There were plenty of admirers of the Ferraris all day, and the children's enclosed section was kept busy with games and activities, so much so the crowds spilled out onto the grass in front of the track-winning post.

The most pleasing aspect of LisAmore! 2024 was seeing the smiles on everyone's faces—people from Lismore, the Northern Rivers, and visitors from as far as Brisbane let their hair down. The Domenico and the Latin Mafia Band not only entertained the record crowd but also had them on their feet on the stage dancing.

Aliison Kelly, one of the amazing LisAmore! organising committee, said, "We've been flat out all day, so that's been wonderful. The atmosphere is just exactly what we wanted, a celebration, a party, people to get together and just enjoy each other's company.

"This is Lismore going, hey, the Italians have something going for him, so let's do it too," Aliison laughs.

The annual Summerland Bank Tug-Of-War event drew a big crowd and was won by a team put together by Mayor Steve Krieg and Councillor Andrew Gordon.

"We put a team together and we called it 'Rebuild Lismore'. We looked amongst the crowd and looked at the guys who were the most energetic and the most excited about being here today, and we enlisted them to join our team. There were no muscles, a little bit of fat involved, but nonetheless, we had the strength, and we just had the enthusiasm, and I guess, the desire to win," smiled Andrew Gordon.

Lismore's Week of Winter Wonder continues this Saturday with the 2024 Lismore Lantern Parade.

With the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting another perfect winter's day, another large crowd can be expected to enjoy another of Lismore's major events on the calendar.