To commemorate its 55th Anniversary in 2019, Act Belong Commit Festival of Busselton will launch its inaugural History Exhibition - 55 Years Young.
This special event has been brought to life by one of Western Australia’s leading exhibition designers, Creative Spaces and includes an interpretive display featuring images from the festival’s early years on the Vasse River right through to today.
The exhibitions design takes advantage of the historic Ballaarat Engine in Railway House to create a colourful platform that showcases the people, places and events that make the Festival of Busselton so loved.
The free to attend event also offers a fun photo opportunity for those keen to share the experience via selfies with Festival Queen cloaks, tiaras and sashes, and pirate hats and swords for children.
According to Creative Spaces director Rikki Clarke, visitors would be taken on a colourful journey through key milestones in the festival’s history and gain an insight to events that have engaged the community for over half a century.
Key content covered by the exhibition includes Festival Queens, community, kids, events and entertainment, as well as special montage of festival programme covers.
Ms Clarke said her team had worked hard to design an exhibition that would engage, educate, and entertain audiences, just as the Festival of Busselton had done for the past 55 years.
Ms Clarke, who spent much of her childhood in Busselton, was a regular attendee at festival events.
“I feel privileged to share my time and expertise with the team at Festival of Busselton,” she said.
“This exhibition is of cultural significance and creates a historical adventure for visitors to Busselton and provides an important reference point for a great many people who have contributed to the festival’s longevity.”
The festival’s exhibition coordinator, Tracy Johnston said the level of support offered by the community in making the event happen had been overwhelming.
“While it has been a somewhat daunting process collating information and images dating back to the early 1960s, the level of interest in the exhibition by the public has kept our spirits high and we are excited to share our findings with them,” she said.
Ms Johnston said although the committee had done everything possible to ensure the accuracy of content in its first historical display, there would be missing pieces to the bigger puzzle.
“Creating a complete and accurate record of the festival’s history will be an ongoing process and we encourage anyone who can assist us to piece together missing or incorrect information, or is able to provide us with unseen images or memorabilia to get in touch,” she said.
Festival of Busselton ~ 55 Years Young will provide a colourful backdrop to the 2019 Act Belong Commit Festival of Busselton’s official launch on Tuesday, January 1.
For more information on Festival of Busselton events, visit festivalofbusselton.com.au/.
