Parents lash out at Geelong Easter egg hunt organisers
Angry parents have lashed out at organisers of an Easter egg hunt, saying children were brought to tears when chocolates were ripped out of their hands.
The Geelong Easter Egg Hunt and Street Food Festival was hit by reports staff were taking chocolate eggs away from devastated children because they had 'too much'.
Parents took to Facebook to vent their fury at organisers of the festival, which ran across the four-day long weekend in the Victorian city.
Organisers had limited the eggs which could be collected to 'only one bag per child' after parents paid a $15 fee.
Angry parents said children were brought to tears at the Geelong Easter Egg Hunt and Street Food Festival when chocolate eggs were taken away because they had too much (stock image)
Furious parents took to Facebook to vent their fury about the Easter egg hunt, although one parent said his son 'thoroughly enjoyed his Easter hunt'
'Was not impressed when the staff took Easter eggs out of the bags my children had collected and told them they had too much even after they only filled there [sic] bags as told at the start,' one parent wrote on the Facebook page of Events Geelong, which had promoted the event.
'They were also told that [the] Easter bunny will get angry if they don't put some back which is not creating the magic of Easter.'
Another parent said she was shocked to see eggs being taken from her son.
'Went to the Geelong Easter Egg Hunt and Food Festival at the showgrounds and just wow, they took eggs off children making them cry when they only had a few eggs,' the parent said.
The event was held at the Geelong Showground across the four-day Easter long weekend (pictured is an advertisement for the event)
A sign at the entry to the Geelong Easter Egg Hunt and Street Food Festival (pictured) advised eggs that could be collected were limited to 'only one bag per child'
'[The] Easter bunny went up to my son and took Easter eggs off of him, I was so shocked and my son wasn't very happy afterwards. Upsetting.'
Although one parent said his son 'thoroughly enjoyed the Easter egg hunt'.
'The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful, he walked away with plenty of eggs and a showbag... I'm sorry to hear about others who had a bad experience, but we couldn't have been treated any better,' he said.
Event organiser Teresita Verfurth hit back at the negative comments and claimed one mother threatened to slap her, the Geelong Advertiser reported.
'People had the rules, they read the rules, but we had people putting them in their pockets, hiding them in their prams - I was trying to get enough for all the children, I'm not discriminating against anyone,' she said.
Ms Verfurth, of Filipino descent, also claimed she was called 'slanty eyes'.
Events Geelong, which promoted the event, posted on their Facebook page they were sorry to hear about what people had been reporting
Organisers said people knew the ruled of the Easter egg hunt but some were putting eggs in their pockets and in their prams (stock image)
In response to the negative feedback on their Facebook page, Events Geelong said they were sorry to hear about what happened.
'Thanks for the feedback,' the organisation wrote.
'We have passed this on to the event organisers. We're sorry to hear about these experiences; hopefully they can be rectified.'