HORSHAM’S Kannamaroo Festival Committee chair Paul Latimer said Friday’s street carnival was the largest in more than a decade with families embracing the event.
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“We were really happy with the turnout,” he said.
“Certainly it was our biggest crowd in the past 10 years. There were a lot of people about and a lot of families that seemed to hang around until quite late.”
Firebrace Street was closed to all vehicles from 2pm on Friday as part of a trial for businesses participating in the street market. Event co-ordinator Wendy Mitchell said early feedback had been mixed.
“We’ll survey the participating businesses tomorrow while it’s still fresh in their minds,” she said.
“I think a few businesses found it a little quieter than they’d hoped, while others had a good day.
“Just looking down the footpath myself, it looked chock-a-block.”
Mrs Mitchell said few people had taken advantage of the absence of traffic.
“I think the perception was that it was quiet because there were no cars and people were still sticking to the footpaths,” she said.
“Those businesses that took advantage of the lack of traffic and put trading tables out on the street did reasonably well.
“Closing the street was something that we talked with the businesses about and was a new strategy aimed at getting more shoppers involved. We’ll wait and see what the results of the survey are before any decision is made about what will happen in the future.”
Mr Latimer said the among the many successes of this year’s festival was an increase in the number of activities for children and young families.
“We had quite a few extra amusement rides for the kids this year,” he said.
“We also scheduled the live acts so they weren’t competing with one another for an audience, which seemed to work really well. The street walkers from Melbourne were also a massive hit.
“There was a fairly even flow up and down the street for most of the evening. I think we had the right mix this year.”
Now in its 36th year, Mr Latimer said Kannamaroo continued to be a success only through the hard work of a dedicated committee and a small band of volunteers that assisted with the running of the carnival.
“Our block captains are incredibly organised. It’s a real pleasure to work with them,” he said.
“The police presence also had an impact. I think people felt more secure. I’d like to personally thank all the carnival participants. It’s a great event to socialise, catch up and network. Without the participation of the community, Kannamaroo wouldn’t exist.”