Community & Business
13 July, 2022
Chillagoe cranks it up for festival
CHILLAGOE will light up this Saturday as the town hosts their annual festival, bringing together locals and visitors to enjoy local market stalls, food, music, a whip cracking display and more.
The festival is run by the Chillagoe Alliance and initially began as a pioneer festival before it developed into the event it is today.
It kicks off at 8am this Saturday 16 July, with markets and an art exhibition, running until around 10pm with local music from homegrown musicians starting 12 noon.
Chillagoe’s star Becci Nethery will be making the trip home for the festival and is slotted to perform from 8pm till 10pm.
Organiser Lee Gordon said the festival had so many people attend last year, they had to temporarily open the rodeo grounds to accommodate all the caravans.
“It has been different in past years but since I’ve been doing it, this year and last year, the focus is mainly on our local talent,” she said.
There will be a bush poets breakfast starting at 8am where poets enjoy food while reading and listening to each other’s poems.
The live music starts at 12 noon and features local artists such as Brendan Wright and Aurelle Brunjes and even two walk-up sessions for interested artists, with people able to put their name down on the day.
Like every year’s festival, the town parade is one of the highlights as local kids dress up their bikes and ride down the main street.
There will even be a whip cracking display by Kevin Ball.
“A big part of the street parade is the whip cracking display – Kevin Ball from Dimbulah tans his own hides and makes green hide whips and ropes and so on,” Ms Gordon said.
“He’s donated those whips to the P&C for the kids and he does practice session with the kids down at the park after school.
“We are all very excited for the festival, it will help the Chillagoe Alliance to continue to host events throughout the year.”
