Almost 100,000 cans of beer have been purchased for the May Racing Carnival and that’s without counting the kegs of beer, wine, champagne or spirits.
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Staff have been working to ensure there’s enough food, drinks and cool rooms to meet the various bars and marquees demands ahead of next week’s event.
Part-time event co-ordinator Craig Wiffrie said while drinks orders were based on past carnivals, it varied.
“We try and work out what drinks the patrons want to drink,” he said. "Every year or two there’s a new flavour that we have to stock. The weather plays a big part. If it’s cold and wet you get a smaller crowd, if it’s hot and sunny they’re going to drink a lot more.”
Mr Wiffrie said local businesses were on call in case stocks got low and while most years they were “on the mark”, they had used back up options including visiting a drive through bottle shops in the past.
Mr Wiffrie said seven refrigerated shipping containers and 15 hired cool rooms, as well as club fridges, kept it all cold.
“We make a lot of ice. We have an ice machine on course and it’s been going flat out for two weeks and we’ll still have to buy in ice from local suppliers.”
His team work from 7am to 11pm during the carnival to ensure marquees are ready for punters and cleaned up and ready to go for the next day.
Mr Wiffrie said despite being a dairy farmer for the rest of the year, he wouldn’t miss the carnival. “For Warrnambool this is magnificent. The amount of tourists that come in. The majority of people I speak to through the event love it. They come from all over Australia for it. They have a ball and that’s what drives us here, trying to make sure they enjoy their time here.”
He is one of the many people employed for the carnival which generates about 300 casual shifts over the three days. There are also 150 contractors who work on course including security and food vendors.
Workers are employed in the marquees, as wait and bar staff and other jobs including stocking fridges, behind the scenes.
Club chief executive Peter Downs said of the 300 shifts, 80 people would work on both Tuesday and Wednesday, while 150 people were employed on Thursday, with some retained from previous years.
Wyton Events & Catering will supply food in the various marquees and dining packages. “We’re very excited to have Dan and Megan (Myers) and their team on board this year,” he said. “They’ve been a large event caterer for a number of years and are well respected in town.”