No more head-splitting, but John Allwood is in training for Chinchilla Melon Festival's watermelon punching contest THE headline act has been pulped but the Chinchilla Melon Festival is still packing plenty of punch. Held every second year, the festival has become one of the biggest social events on the Queensland bush calendar, showcased by the renowned watermelon head-splitting championship. Local farmhand John Allwood is a pretty unassuming bloke, but he is also the world champion melon head splitter. His Guinness world record of splitting 47 melons with his head may never be broken, especially after festival organisers decided to ban the controversial event for this year's festival. Mr Allwood, dubbed 'Big John' by the locals, has now turned his attention to another record attempt, this time in the melon punching event of the festival, which starts on Thursday. GUIDE: How to punch a melon - in 5 simple steps To claim a second place in melon immortality, he will have to shatter 71 melons with his fists inside a minute. The Rocky Balboa of the bush said he was confident he could pulp the existing record. "I'll give it a bloody good go," he said. It beats whacking your head against a melon anyway. The melon festival, first staged in 1994, attracts thousands of spectators from across Australia and even overseas. Festival committee member Darryl O'Leary said other popular events include the melon seed spitting championship, melon toss and the perennial favourite melon ski competition, where combatants substitute skis for half-sliced watermelons strapped to their feet. The festival runs until Sunday.