LIKE Ivan Walker, the Festival of Busselton committee was very disappointed when we couldn’t find anyone to build a spirit for the 2013 festival.
We were further disappointed when we didn’t receive any entrants in the Young Ambassador competition, even though we wrote to over 50 community and sporting groups in the city and the Mail ran several articles trying to attract entrants.
Nonetheless, I’m grateful for Mr Walker’s letter as it gives the festival committee the opportunity to ask the Busselton and Dunsborough communities whether they want the Young Ambassador competition to continue.
If the answer is yes, does the competition need some changes, for example, should entrants be required to raise funds for their sponsoring groups?
Should entrants be judged just once during their formal meeting with the independent judges or should they be required to build a float, interact with young children and seniors, and speak at a presentation evening and a city reception, all of which are judged activities?
We welcome public feedback on any aspect of the Young Ambassador competition and on the Festival as a whole.
Comments can be passed on to any committee member or to me at bmasters@iinet.net.au or phone at 9727 2474.
For the record, the 2013 festival attracted record numbers of competition entrants and spectators.
We had 188 entrants in the children’s chalk art competition, over 170 pirates descended on the Leeuwin, the audience at the Dunsborough deckchair cinema was over 300 (compared to less than 100 last year), stall holders at Petticoat Lane reported excellent sales, and the closing night concert attracted between 6000 and 8000 people, at least three times larger than any previous attendance.
I understand that all of the community groups who ran their own festival events were very happy with the public response.
The Busselton Surf Life Saving Club raised over $2000 with its Duck Drop, over 140 children turned out to Playgroup WA’s teddy bears picnic and more than 300 people visited the blacksmith display run by the Busselton Historical Society.
I also understand that the Busselton and Dunsborough art societies and the Busselton Pottery Group had strong sales of their art works.
On behalf of the festival committee, I wish to thank everyone who helped make the 2013 festival so successful, especially the committee members themselves.
Next year is our 50th festival and we’re hoping it’ll be one that the city remembers for a long time.
Bernie Masters,
Festival of Busselton president,
What did you think of the festival? Send your thoughts to editorial.bdmail@ruralpress.com
