General News
28 September, 2022
Colour Festival makes successful return
HIGH Street was a sea of colour last week as thousands turned out for the return of the Colour Terang Festival after a three-year hiatus.
HIGH Street was a sea of colour last week as thousands turned out for the return of the Colour Terang Festival after a three-year hiatus.
A wide range of attractions, stalls, rides and curiosities were available to draw in the large crowd, with visitors from across the region descending on Terang.
The event was highlighted by the popular Colour Splash, with dozens of kilograms of brightly-coloured Holi powder bringing a burst of colour to the avenue.
Terang Progress Association president Ben Dennis said the successful return of the Colour Terang Festival was “unreal”.
“We were very happy with how it all came together,” he said.
“It was great to see so many people out and about, supporting the event and stopping on the way through.
“We weren’t sure how the extra public holiday might impact on numbers, with people travelling through a bit earlier, but numbers were really good.
“I would estimate a couple of thousand people attended throughout the day.”
The organising committee was mindful to try and help provide an economic boost for local businesses, in what was among the first large events to be held in Terang since the end of COVID-19 restrictions.
Stalls, art displays, sales and food options were available at local businesses on High Street to contribute to the overall togetherness of the Colour Terang Festival.
“We felt awful because we had to move some of the things from the cricket ground to the avenue, which included the food vans, due to the wet weather,” Mr Dennis said.
“We were conscious that we didn’t want to put food vans in the avenue and potentially take away business from the local shops.
“But business owners I’ve spoken to have said their sales went nuts and some tripled their expected sales, which we were sohappy about.”
Mr Dennis said the event hiatus, which had been forced due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions limiting public gatherings since 2019, had created uncertainty which took a toll on the organising committee.
“It was pretty heartbreaking for the last two years because we’ve had 100 per cent planned events each year,” he said.
“Each time we held off as long as we could before eventually having to pull the pin.
“Last year it was about four weeks prior we were in a position of either pulling the pin or going hard with advertising, and it was heartbreaking to have to pull the pin, but it did make some of the planning easier for this year because we were able to roll over ideas.
“It was a great effort by the core committee of organisers as well as extra volunteers on the day. It really went off without a hitch.”
The Colour Terang Festival is organised by the Terang Progress Association, with funding support from the Corangamite Shire Council.
Mr Dennis thanked those who had volunteered their time to help make the event a success.
“It’s hard to attract volunteers at the moment,” he said.
“The rate of volunteers have been low coming out of COVID-19 so to have that group of people with us, still trying to do the best we can for the community, and doing all the work they do is just tremendous.
“Everyone did a great job across their different roles, both leading up to the event and on the day, so it was a great team effort to get together and get it done.”
Event organisers had already begun discussing ideas for the 2023 Colour Terang Festival even before the Holi powder from this year had been washed away.
“We’re absolutely optimistic for the future,” Mr Dennis said.
“We had only just finished the day and we were also talking what had worked really well this year or things which didn’t work as well as we would have liked, things we would like to do next year, and what activities or changes could be made.
“We’re already starting to think about what next year is going to bring.”
