Trevor Ceccato’s carrot will be making its 27th appearance at the festival. Photo: Denny Fachin.
Every year in October, Griffith’s main street turns into a zesty wonderland adorned with giant sculptures made from oranges – including a robot, piano, carrot, chicken and wheelchair.
But have you ever wondered where the idea for the Real Juice Company Citrus Sculptures originated?
The spark came from marriage celebrant Lyn Sparks, while she was browsing a Women’s Weekly magazine.
“I saw pictures of these citrus sculptures in France and thought Griffith would be a great place to do it too. I passed on the idea to the Griffith Garden Club and they did all the work to make it happen,” Ms Sparks said.
The Lemon Festival has been held in the French town of Menton since 1934.
The Griffith Garden Club was founded by the late Nora Ceccato. Her son Trevor, a longtime festival volunteer, explains how the concept was imported to the Riverina.
“When Lyn showed Mum the magazine, she loved the concept and wrote letters to the local government in France to find out how the sculptures were assembled and whether we could do it in Australia too,” he said.
“They never replied, so she wrote through the Griffith Council and they eventually replied back in French, giving us permission to do the sculptures here. They explained they used elastic rubber bands to hold the oranges together on a steel frame.
“We started the festival in Griffith in 1995 with three sculptures and it kept getting bigger, we now have 60 or more. There’s only two places in the world that does this, France and us.”
Conor Meehan said it’s easy to make citrus sculptures, just watch out for falling oranges. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
The rules in Griffith are similar to those in Menton.
“We have regulations, each sculpture needs to be 90 per cent made of citrus – oranges, lemons and grapefruit. No logos or advertising is allowed, but you can put the name of your business on the placard in front of it.”
For the past 27 years, Mr Ceccato has made a carrot for the festival.
“I’m an engineer for the company South Pacific Seeds and we grow vegetables for seed,” he said.
“We tried to think of what sort of vegetable we could make into a sculpture and the carrot was the easiest. It’s orange and I get bristles which are palm leaves for the top. It’s made out of mesh with a tube down the middle, where water is kept to keep it fresh.
“A hole is bored into the ground that is there all year, there is a little cap that goes over it. There’s only three sculptures that are supported by a hole – the carrot, the Catholic Church for their cross and the robot which is four metres high. There are two holes for the feet so it doesn’t fall over.”
More than 800 volunteers will help assemble the sculptures using more than 100,000 locally grown oranges on Sunday (12 October).
Griffith Council’s events coordinator, Izabella Apolloni, said the sculptures were a perfect blend of community spirit and creative flair.
“This year we’ll see 60 sculptures take shape, including one brand-new creation alongside favourites such as the grand piano, the reclining chook and the talking robot,” Miss Apolloni said.
The new creation will come from the Griffith Prostate Cancer Support Group (they’re doing a ribbon, not an actual prostate).
“Everyone is welcome to roll up their sleeves and help bring the sculptures to life on construction day. It’s a morning that really squeezes the best out of our community, with people of all ages working together to create something truly amazing,” Miss Apolloni said.
Construction kicks off at 7:30 am on Sunday (12 October), with volunteers securing oranges and grapefruit to frames by hand, a process that has become a much-loved tradition. Community members are welcome, as long as they are wearing closed in shoes, with induction from 7:30 am.
The citrus creations will be on display in Banna Avenue until Saturday 25 October.
For more information about volunteering or to explore the full Griffith Spring Fest 2025 program, visit the Griffith Tourism Hub, call 1800 681 141 or head to the Griffith Spring Fest website.
