I ended up there once after falling in with a group of Chinese smugglers en route to Melbourne. While that arrangement didn’t pan out for either party, I did manage to crawl my way to Maryborough, Queensland, home of the World’s Greatest Pub Fest.
The World’s Greatest Pub Fest features a circuit of historic hotels. Every June, over a thousand fancy-dressed participants hop on buses or meander around town, dipping into hotel after hotel to taste local culture and drink. You meet every shape and size; crawlers hail from all over the planet to join in.
With a heart as kind as mine, I was pleased to learn that The World’s Greatest Pub Fest supports a different charity every year. In 2010, for instance, proceeds benefited prostate cancer causes. The World’s Greatest Pub Fest set the record for most attendees in 2009 at 4,718 people. Madness.