Despite the smoke serving as a constant reminder of the natural atrocities taking place throughout the region, Corowa Rotary Club’s vice president, Gary Poidevin is urging the community to get together for some fun and celebrations for the Australia Day weekend.
“The club is hoping that this Federation Festival weekend will be one of the biggest in years and are looking forward to seeing everyone there to celebrate Australia Day in style,” Mr Poidevin told The Free Press.
“I’m calling on everyone in the community to join together, celebrate and feel some happiness for the Federation Festival.”
The festival weekend has a long tradition of entertaining the residents of Corowa and the many visitors that frequent the region during the summer holidays.
The weekend starts on Friday 24 January, with the Tim Fischer Oration. This is the fourth year the dinner has been held at the Oddfellows Hall and this year’s speaker is the former independent member for Indi, Cathy McGowan.
“It is a great night with food, wine and an interesting talk from the guest speaker,” Mr Poidevin said.
“It would be a nice mark of respect for Tim Fischer, who passed away late last year, to have a great turnout for Friday night’s oration.”
Saturday, 25 January will see the annual Corowa Rotary B&S Ball, held at the Cougar’s league grounds. The event has been well attended each year bringing visitors and locals together to celebrate Australia Day.
The B&S Ball is set to be huge again this year. We’re expecting in excess of 800 people to attend which is a fantastic,” Mr Poidevin said.
The main attraction this year will be US international country singer, Sam Riddle. The theme is Australia Day and all attendees wear Aussie themed clothes.
Saturday night’s events at RSL Park – including the much loved fireworks display – has been cancelled due to the ongoing fire conditions throughout the country.
On Sunday January 26, the club’s annual Federation Markets will be in Bangerang Park from 8am with an Ecumenical Service commencing at 9am and the Federation Festival Parade, commencing at 10am.
“These markets are some of the biggest markets for the year with many stallholders, food and drink vendors, fresh produce and the fantastic APEX Club train,” Mr Poidevin added.
The long held Federation Parade, which is one of the major events for the festival, will once again make its way down Sanger Street to Bangerang Park in the “Australia Day” theme.
“We’re set to have a good contingency of pipe bands, with our lead band for the parade being the Scots School Pipe Band who will be led by Corowa’s Dylan Forge,” Mr Poidevan said.
A limited number of tickets are still available for the Tim Fischer Oration which can be purchased from Marshall Batteries.
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