Opinion

Illuminating weekend for future potential

By Tyler Maher

Mar 29, 2022

Festival fun: A large crowd packed Wyndham St, Shepparton, on Saturday night to watch the CFA torchlight march. Photo by Aydin Payne

It really felt like Shepparton was ‘back’ on the weekend.

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I spend at least an hour in the CBD every Saturday morning after dropping my daughter Eden at her dancing classes.

For the first time in a long while, I encountered multiple groups of people from outside of the Goulburn Valley in that hour.

One family was doing some clothes shopping up and down Fryers St.

The other was exploring the murals in between Fryers and Stewart Sts, stopping us for some questions about their history and importance as we walked past.

Great night: Children enjoyed the Swan Sisters performers roaming lakeside on Friday night.

Now of course, these could have simply been chance encounters that I had this week and, by the same chance, did not have in others.

But I’d like to think it’s a sign of a revival of sorts for the region.

You only had to be in the vicinity of Victoria Park Lake on Friday or Saturday night to experience the same vibe.

Greater Shepparton City Council and its events team should be applauded for their efforts in running the Illuminate Festival — a celebration of light and sound which an estimated 20,000 people enjoyed across the two evenings.

My family was one of those which backed up from Friday night and also went Saturday, with Eden able to experience all of the activities and entertainment in a less-busy setting initially before hunkering down in one spot to take it all in on the second night.

Bonnie, who recently reached her 10-month milestone and is precariously close to walking, was excited to be out and about grooving and moving again too.

If the weekend’s event was a taste of what is to come as the region works hard to return to somewhat of a ‘pre-pandemic’ state, we’re all in for a great time.