February 13th, 2025Who’s the elephant in the Parade?

The ChillOut Grand Parade is becoming a bit of a circus but the Sunday, March 9 event in Vincent Street, Daylesford is shaping up to be a real crowd pleaser. 

The Amazing Mill Market director, and avid collector of weird and wacky stuff,rMark Ward is bringing in a new member of his family, and introducing her to the crowds on the day. 

Tipping the scales at 300 kilograms, but no fat shaming please, Elle is a fully motorised elephant. 

She was built in Disneyland for Myer Adelaide to attract more children to the store. But plans do sometimes go awry. 

Rather than attract more customers, Elle was so life-like she actually scared the kids away. And was quietly retired from her department store position. 

Luckily, Mark saw her merits, paid thousands for his new pet, and proudly drove her from Adelaide to Geelong in the back of his ute – gaining attention from numerous newspapers and even a police escort for part of the way. 

“Elle looks so alive, she blinks her eyes, moves her tail and flaps her ears. That was the best drive I have ever done.” 

Elle will be ridden down Vincent Street, decked out in circus gear, in keeping with ChillOut’s Big Top theme, and hopefully will not scare any children. 

Meanwhile, over at The Local, plans are underway for a clown car – complete with journalists and photographers. 

Editor Donna Kelly said TL HQ was generally “a bit of a three-ringed circus so it’s not too much of a stretch to put together the clown car float”. 

The Local is a media partner with ChillOut – a partnership which started in 2014. See you over the weekend! 

Words: Kyle Barnes