New-blood call to keep Yfest ticking

Volunteers behind Yarriambiack Shire’s successful Yfest Easter celebrations are calling on more young people to get involved in running the event.

Yfest secretary Jean Wise said the weekend of activities based in Warracknabeal had continued to blossom and needed an injection of youth to ensure longevity.

“We’ve had a fantastic weekend. Patron numbers were up, gate-takings at Warracknabeal races were up, vintage rally numbers were definitely up and we had a bigger crowd than usual for a parade,” she said.

“The only thing we would really like to see is some younger faces come on board on an organising committee to ensure this wonderful festival can continue well into the future.

“While we have a lot of experienced people and passionate volunteers helping make the event run smoothly, we would dearly love some younger people with fresh and new ideas to help to take it into the future.

“Some people have been on the organising group since conception in 1999 and while that’s great, it is always good to attract new people.”

Mrs Wise said ideal autumn weather provided a perfect environment for last weekend’s big community event.

“We had so many visitors come into town,” she said.

“Figures from the Tourist Information Centre showed we had people from Western Australia, Tasmania, Queensland, NSW, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

“People are hearing about Yfest from far and wide.

“There have been caravans by the hundreds going through, many of them on the Silo Art Trail and many of these travellers, after realising we’ve had other things on, have spent a lot of time in town.

“It is hard to put a figure on the amount of spending from visiting people but it can only be good for Warracknabeal district.”

Mrs Wise said a parade through Warracknabeal’s main street was again a major attraction.

“Some say the numbers might have been higher but we believe it was watched by more than 2000 people,” she said.

Yfest, which has also evolved into an homecoming opportunity for many Yarriambiack ex-patriots, featured an eclectic mix of events, ranging from golf and horse racing to a major art show, standalone vintage rally, hot-rod show and shine, busking and a variety of other attractions.

Mrs Wise said planning was already underway for next year’s 22nd Yfest.

“We’ve had a fantastic weekend. Patron numbers were up, gate-takings at Warracknabeal races were up, vintage rally numbers were definitely up and we had a bigger crowd than usual for a parade” – Jean Wise