WIMMERA German Fest organisers hope this year’s inaugural event in Horsham will ignite interest from German-heritage communities across the country.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The one-day festival at Horsham Showground will feature two performance stages, cooking and brewing competitions, and input from Wimmera schools.
The event steering committee has confirmed the major entertainment for the October24 event, including South Australia’s Klemzig Oompah Band and the Hahndorf Town Band.
The event is the brainchild of the Blue Ribbon Foundation’s Horsham branch, in partnership with Wimmera Health Care Group and Horsham Rural City Council.
Money raised will go to Wimmera Base Hospital’s emergency department.
Festival steering committee chairman Peter Daffy said the group wanted to expand the event each year to become a weekend-long festival within five years.
‘‘The event came about because Dimboola used to host a German fest each year to raise money for the hospital there. The last one was in 2008.
‘‘We also know there are many successful events across the country that celebrate German heritage. We wanted to tap back into that and give people a chance to experience German culture on their doorstep.’’
Mr Daffy said the event would celebrate the region’s German heritage through music, food and cultural activities.
He said expressions of interest for event catering had been sent out to community groups, and tenders would be finalised within weeks.
‘‘We are also looking at sponsorship packages, and are chasing a naming rights sponsor,’’ he said.
‘‘We are ramping up promotion for the event and have handed out 1500 ‘save the date’ cards at events including the Grampians Grape Escape and the Adelaide Caravan and Camping Show.’’
Mr Daffy said the event was originally going to run from 11am to 6pm.
‘‘The feedback we had was that people would prefer it to start after lunch and go later into the night, so we changed the time to 1pm to 8pm,’’ he said.
Mr Daffy said the group was also looking for people to volunteer their time at the event. He said any one interested could call him on 0427 051 605.