General News
4 October, 2023
Record crowd for Colour Festival
THERE were not many country towns as vibrant as Terang over the long weekend as the Colour Terang Festival drew thousands to the main street.
THERE were not many country towns as vibrant as Terang over the long weekend as the Colour Terang Festival drew thousands to the main street.
Terang Progress Association, which organised the event, president Ken McSween said committee members estimated the crowd to be more than 2500 strong, making this year’s event the biggest Colour Terang Festival to date.
“It was a fantastic day,” he said. “There were a lot of smiling faces.
“Last year we estimated around 1500 people so this was most definitely the biggest we have had yet.”
Mr McSween said the feedback from local businesses had been encouraging as the structure of the festival aimed to support local retailers and provide a direct economic boost.
“There were more shops open this year and from the early feedback we’ve received, it
sounds like everyone had a pretty good day,” he said.
“All reports are positive, including from stallholders who were keen to come back again.”
Around 25 members of the community put their hand up to volunteer on the day, who Mr McSween credited as the ones who made the success of the event possible.
“There is only a small band of us who actually organise the event, so we’ve been flat out, especially over the last two months, getting everything organised,” he said.
“I was very grateful for our volunteers; these things don’t happen without people who are there to put their hand up.”
Among those entertaining the record crowd was artist Tom McKenzie, a born and raised Terang native who painted a mural celebrating female athletes.
The now Melbourne-based artist said he “jumped at the opportunity” to come back home for the event.
“Since becoming an artist a few years ago everyone has been so supportive,” Mr McKenzie said.
“It’s really good to be able to come back, put on an exhibition and share my work with the community that has supported me so much.
“The mural will eventually be donated to Terang College, so I wanted to create a mural that inspires girls in sport.
“I thought there was nobody better than Sam Kerr, to do that, with the text reading ‘play like a girl.”
Mr McKenzie has been both a passionate artist and athlete, so the opportunity to unite the two in front of his hometown community was one he couldn’t pass up.
He praised the Colour Terang Festival for helping to put local art in the spotlight.
“I think something like this is exactly what I would have needed to follow my dreams,” Mr McKenzie said.
