We Set Fire to the Rain at Frankston Fire Festival

When we applied for the inaugural Frankston Fire Festival, one of the questions was:

How will you fit into the fire theme?

My answer was apple crumble.

And the event organisers seemed to see the vision in it too — something warm, seasonal, comforting, and just a little unexpected. Something that could add to the feeling of the event, not just sit on the menu as another topping.

Not the usual tropical, summery, colourful kind of topping. Not mango, pineapple, berries, or all the things that feel more like festival sunshine. This was a winter fire festival, and when the tropical fruits are out of season and Victoria is giving us beautiful apples and oranges, you work with what the season gives you.

So we created a warm deconstructed apple crumble: hot poffertjes, cold custard, stewed Victorian apples, and crumble on top.

The cold topping was actually part of the magic. With limited space in the trailer, keeping the custard and apple chilled was the practical option — but once it hit the hot poffertjes, it created something really lovely. Hot and cold. Soft and gooey. Crunchy and buttery. Sweet apple, creamy custard, golden crumble, and warm little poffertjes underneath it all.

It had that proper winter dessert feeling. Familiar, comforting, and just different enough to feel special.

And honestly, it just made sense.

Especially when the forecast decided to join the theme in its own dramatic way.

Frankston didn’t just have a Fire Festival. Frankston very nearly had a Set Fire to the Rain Festival.

Once it became clear that Saturday was going to be a rainy one, the organisers quickly leaned into it in such a clever way. The “set fire to the rain” energy started popping up, and somehow it gave the power back to everyone. Instead of pretending the weather was not happening, it became part of the story. We were all just going to do the best we could with what was.

And then they came.

Raincoats, umbrellas, gumboots, ponchos — all having their first proper winter outing like it was some kind of dress-up party. Families turned up ready for the weather, not scared off by it. Kids splashed around. Parents laughed. People lined up. The wind, thankfully, left us alone enough to let the rain be the main character.

It was actually beautiful to see.

In this age of uncertainty, last-minute changes, wild weather, and events constantly having to adapt, Frankston showed exactly what community resilience looks like. Not in a corporate buzzword kind of way, but in a very real, very wet, very gumboot-covered kind of way.

People came out anyway.

And they came hungry.

The apple crumble turned out to be exactly the right thing at exactly the right time. Warm, comforting, familiar, and just a little bit indulgent after standing in the rain. It wasn’t just a topping; it felt like the food version of putting your hands around a warm mug.

That hot and cold theme seemed to be everywhere on the night too. While we were serving warm poffertjes with chilled toppings, the last remaining competitive ice sculptor was there carving an incredible seahorse from ice. Somehow, in the middle of a fire festival, rain, winter air, hot desserts, and ice sculpture all made perfect sense together.

We sold out on debut.

Not because the same people kept coming back over and over, but because different people kept arriving, spotting the apple crumble, and deciding that yes — that was exactly what they needed.

Even the Mayor came by and bought one.

That was a lovely little moment.

There was also a little founder lesson in this one.

Sometimes it is easy to wonder whether all the little things before an event actually matter — commenting on organiser posts, sharing a photo, saying “see you there”, showing people what we are bringing before they arrive.

But on Saturday night, it felt like those little touchpoints had done their job.

People were not just wandering up and choosing at random. They had seen the apple crumble. They had connected it with the event. And when the rain came down and the night turned cold, that warm winter dessert suddenly made perfect sense.

That is the part I love about building this business.

It is not just about putting poffertjes in a bowl.

It is about reading the season, the event, the weather, the crowd, and the moment — and then creating something that feels like it belongs there.

For us, Frankston Fire Festival was a reminder that not every great event looks perfect on paper. Sometimes the weather is against you. Sometimes the forecast is rude. Sometimes you pack extra towels and hope for the best.

But then people show up.

The organisers adapt. The community turns up. The kids splash in puddles. The fire performers do their thing. The food smells amazing. And suddenly the rain becomes part of the story instead of the thing that ruined it.

At 4:30, I was singing We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel.

By the end of the night, Adele’s Set Fire to the Rain felt like it had been written for the moment.

So thank you, Frankston.

Thank you to everyone who came out in raincoats, gumboots, umbrellas, ponchos, and full winter determination.

Thank you to the organisers for finding such a clever way to hand the power back to all of us — to embrace what was happening and make the best of it.

Frankston really is a beautiful place to visit, in winter and summer.

And thank you to everyone who gave our apple crumble poffertjes a try.

I think this one has earned its place on the winter menu.

We certainly set fire to the rain!

Image Credit: A snip of the video put up by Imagine Frankston in the It's a Wrap post on Facebook 13/06/26