The festival turned 21 yesterday, but there was an old-time carnival feeling in the air.

''Step right up, step right up,'' stallholders yelled out. And families did, handing over a few dollars for a chance to win a plush toy monkey or a bull, by knocking over four Coke bottles in one hit, or pegging a ball squarely in the clown's mouth.

Show bags were aplenty, with Twilight bags hanging comfortably next to Sesame Street, Hello Kitty and Barbie ones. But gorging on the standard show fare of fairy floss, hot dogs and chips splattered with tomato sauce did little to deter those wanting a ride on one of the neon-flashing rides.

Children's mouths formed perfect Os as they zipped up and down, sideways, backwards, forwards, but their screams were lost in the howling wind.

Five-year-old Cameron Bond, of Gordon, was one little boy who loved the ride the ''chair-o-plane''.

He had just had his face painted as a dragon, and so it was no surprise that he wasn't scared.

''No. Not really.''

His sister Alexi, 9, wasn't either.

The children's grandfather, Bob Greig, of Monash, said it was an enjoyable way to spend time with his grandchildren.

''And it reminds me of the carnivals in Glasgow that always came mid-summer,'' he said.

Away from the whirling rides, 212-year-old Shannon McVey, of Pearce, gingerly perched on Shetland pony Midnight.

Shannon's mother, Leigh, said her daughter loved the pony ride because she was at ''that age'' where she was into learning about farm animals.

He wasn't singing Old MacDonald Had a Farm, but Elvis still entertained on stage in a red jumpsuit and gold belt, crooning Let It Be Me. But there were no screaming and fainting women in the audience.

Kate Henderson, 24, of Wanniassa, was chilling on the grass with a friend. She said she used to be a ''huge fan'' of Elvis and thought the impersonator was ''pretty good''.

But if Elvis ballads weren't everyone's cup of tea, the Madagascar 2 Live Show got the children up and wriggling, while later, Ian Moss from Cold Chisel entertained the adults with his soulful sound.