Celebrate a Big Weekend
Murtoa’s Big Weekend 21 years. People are invited to join in a weekend packed to capacity with entertainment during the last weekend of the school holidays, from Friday, October 6 to Sunday, October 8.
The A. and P. Murtoa Show on the morning of Friday 6 will start festivities, with an extensive line-up of attractions on offer.
Entertainment includes horse events, old tractors and cars, a Thermomix cooking demonstration, pavilion exhibits of craft, produce and school art, rides, various animal displays, show bags, food, market stalls and live entertainment.
A life-sized animated dinosaur roaming the showground will also captivate patrons.
The ‘Booth’ will again be in action, providing a relaxed social environment near Murtoa’s picturesque Lake Marma.
Yarriambiack Shire Council Mayor Graeme Massey will officially open Murtoa’s Big Weekend at the showground.
In recognition of 21 years, a free community ‘Family Fun and Film Night’, supported by Graincorp, will be at Lake Marma on Friday evening.
The night will provide fun and entertainment for the whole family, with a barbecue tea, live music by regional band The Stumps and renowned Australian film Paper Planes on a big pop-up screen.
A fireworks display will reflect the beauty of Lake Marma and wind up a perfect night’s entertainment. Barbeque tea and snacks, hot drinks and soft drinks will be available for sale.
Murtoa Stick Shed will open all three days of Murtoa’s Big Weekend.
This iconic Australian National Heritage-listed building is a must-see and is breathtaking with each visit.
Tantalising sounds of song will be heard on the Saturday with singing in the Stick Shed.
Victorian and interstate choirs will create wonderful sounds within the structure.
Visitors will be stunned by the majesty of the shed and a massed choir performance at the end of the day.
Free bus tours of district farms, introduced last year, are again on offer due to their popularity, on Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday, from 10am to 2pm, Murtoa’s Mcdonald Street will be alive and vibrant with a Monster Street Market.
The market features a variety of stalls, barbecue lunch, street entertainment and busking. New attractions feature family African drumming workshops and pop-up art galleries.
A Murtoa Show ’n’ Shine, sponsored by Shannons Insurance, will run in conjunction with the Monster Street Market. A vast range of vintage cars and motorbikes will be on display.
Off the Bench, one of the largest syndicated football radio programs across Australia and is celebrating broadcast on 12 stations across Melbourne, regional Victoria and Broken Hill including local station 1089-3WM, will broadcast live from the street market on Saturday morning.
Hosts for the Saturday morning live show will be Liam Pickering, Craig Hutchison and Scott Cummings.
The QLS Logistics Murtoa Cup race meeting will be on Saturday from 11am to 6pm.
Patrons can experience racing as it’s meant to be while they admire the Melbourne Cup on display in celebration of the running of the first heat of the inaugural Melbourne Cup Carnival series.
Pulse race
A Great Pulse Race will entertain all present with club, community and workplace groups put to the test while trying to win their share of the $3000 in prizes.
The cup meeting will also feature live music, free children’s activities, fashions on the field and more.
After the races Murtoa’s Railway Hotel will meet thirst and hunger needs with drinks and meals available from 6pm. Entertainment includes popular Wimmera band Acousticus Stomp.
Another feature of the Big Weekend is Sunday’s Rainbow Colour Run at Lake Marma from 9.30am to 11am.
People can bring families and friends to be part of this event.
A ecumenical church service on Sunday at 11am will be in Murtoa Mechanics Hall supper rooms with lunch available after the service.
After lunch a Murtoa Cemetery tour will highlight areas of interest in the well-preserved 19th Century cemetery, which features many intact early graves dating from the 1870s.
People can drive themselves or catch a tour bus from Mechanics Hall at 12.10pm or Water Tower Museum.
Dunmunkle Sumpoilers’ Ruston-hornsby engines will run periodically on both Saturday and Sunday.
There will also be other displays and demonstrations of blacksmithing, rope making and model steam engines.
Collections in the Water Tower Museum and Concordia College are open for viewing on Saturday and Sunday.
A new attraction to the festival program is an author talk by former Murtoa district resident Sylvia Gertz, who will talk about her recently released memoir, Square Peg.
At the Bell Tower, beside the Water Tower Museum, Sylvia will draw on her experiences as a teacher and from family life in Coromby from 1960 to 1972.
Murtoa’s Big Weekend organisers encourage people to obtain a weekend or day pass to the event, proudly supported by Graincorp.
Further details are available online at www. murtoabigweekend.com and on facebook.com/ Murtoa Big Weekend.