THE 15th Annual Yarraville Arts Festival was held over the weekend, treating an estimated 10,000 people to more than nine hours of Yarraville’s finest creative offerings.
Across five stages, festival-goers were presented with a mixed bag of music, poems and art while market and craft stalls turned Anderson and Ballarat streets into a bazaar.
Yarraville Festival Committee president Charlie Kopa said attendees seemed very happy with the day.
“The festival was fantastic, and the weather held off for us,” he said.
“Every area was really quite packed. Some people are saying it was the best one ever.”
A committee of 20 people spent almost a year seeking the support of sponsors and signing entertainment acts for the massive event.
“We had close to 300 performers including 30 to 40 bands, ranging from duos to a 50-piece African drum band,” Mr Kopa said.
The entertainment was diverse as it was plentiful.
Each of the five stages was allocated its own specific brand of fun including contemporary music, multiculturalism, jazz and blues, children’s entertainment and community entertainment, while roving entertainers and rides kept the crowd abuzz between stages.
The Cool Cops dunking machine proved as popular as last year, offering the opportunity to dunk a Footscray policeman into a pool by throwing balls at a target.
“There was probably about a hundred people watching it at any given time throughout the day,” Mr Kopa said.
“That was a huge crowd pleaser.
“A few of them got just saturated.”
Beginning at 10.30am, the event continued well into the night.
Headlining act the Nudist Funk Orchestra took the stage at 7pm, but it isn’t quite what it sounds like.
“No, they were not nude, but they were very funky,” said Mr Kopa.
“Their music attracted about two and a half thousand people and the place was just jumping,” he said.
While the weekend was deemed a huge success, the committee isn’t affording itself the luxury of rest.
“We start planning again next week.
“There’s a debrief meeting and we’ll begin to put together sponsorship appeals to make next year even better,” he said.
