Sheehan thrills bumper home crowd at festival

An annual festival that is the apple of Donnybrook’s eye each year made a mouth-watering return over the Easter long weekend, but it was a world champion freestyle motocross legend who may have stolen the show. The Live Lighter Donnybrook Apple Festival drew a bumper crowd over two days from Saturday, featuring live music, cooking demonstrations, food trucks, a petting zoo and, of course, apples. Carparks were at a premium as visitors flooded the town and residents got around the action. Organising committee chair Belinda O’Brien said the event, which ran over Saturday and Sunday, was a success. “We are lucky in some ways because people are not travelling interstate and overseas as much so they are coming and exploring the local area,” she said. “We think there was a lot more to see and do at the festival this year. “I think we have achieved our goal of making this a better value for money event. One of the major attractions was local boy and motocross legend Josh Sheehan. The 35-year-old, who made history six years ago by becoming the only person to ever execute a triple backflip, was joined by his team of riders and demonstrated a series of freestyle tricks off a 23m jump, set up in the middle of Egan Park. Sheehan, pictured, said he loved the thrill of being in front of a local crowd. “It’s awesome to be able to put a show on for the home town and all the locals,” he said. “I always love the local shows and it’s nice to get back on the bike. “We are doing all of the tricks we can do, a bunch of backflips and backflip variations.” Ms O’Brien said she hoped the day had been a welcome boost for local businesses and the event would continue to attract a large crowd.