Call for German Fest ideas

A call for community ideas to grow Horsham German Fest next year is likely to be a key aspect of an event-debriefing meeting next week.

Organisers were generally happy with the festival at the weekend but are conscious of costs involved in running the celebration.

They will assess what is needed to continue operating the event into the future.

About 400 patrons attended the Horsham Agricultural Society event at Maydale Reserve in Horsham showground on Saturday.

Society secretary Andrea Cross said numbers were slightly down on expectations but the event still generated a festive atmosphere.

“What we do know is that the location and layout was good and most people who were there had a great time,” she said.

“It was the first time we’ve done anything like this and for us it was a whole new experience.

“Now that we’ve done it once, it will come down to the whether we can afford to do it again.

“The amount of people who said they would come back next year was really heartening and to hear positive responses was overwhelming.

“We would love to do it again and the reality is that it could be much larger next year.

“But there is much to consider and it really comes down to the community of Horsham district whether something like this continues.”

Mrs Cross said the location and event programming worked well but she believed there was scope for greater community and business input and a reassessment in scheduling.

She said the opportunity was open for more people to get involved as volunteers and play a role directly in the event or in providing ideas.

The event featured helicopter joy flights, Adelaide Accordion Orchestra and Wimmera Oompah Band played in a beer hall throughout the day, before DJS took over for an evening party.

Mrs Cross said the availability of German beer had obviously been a hit with patrons and some might be still available at a major New Year’s Eve community celebration the society was planning.

The MIXX FM Horsham German Fest was previously the Dimboola German Fest and Wimmera German Fest.

Blue Ribbon Foundation’s Horsham branch ran the festival in 2015 and 2016.