Hannah Hammoud
Hume council is seeking feedback from the community for the 2023-23 draft events and festivals strategy, Vibrant and Inclusive.
Vibrant and Inclusive is the first events and festivals strategy in over 10 years, prior to the development of Vibrant and Inclusive, council’s previous events strategy was adopted in 2010.
Vibrant and Inclusive was informed through community feedback from an events and festivals consultation process that was undertaken last year. The Participate Hume page attracted 690 visits, with 588 people responding to the survey.
From a list of different types of festivals and events on offer, the top three preferences from respondents were: Major festival with headline act, activities, and food (43.8 per cent), Community event with activities and food (42.2 per cent) and Food and wine festival (35.1 per cent).
Key findings from the survey supported the development of strategic direction and guiding principles of the strategy.
The key principles of the strategy are to deliver events that are inclusive of all the Hume community, have a primary purpose of community benefit and are financially and environmentally sustainable.
Cr Jarrod Bell shared the strategy at a council meeting on Monday, May 8 and encouraged the community to provide feedback on the draft events strategy through the council website.
“This strategy reflects the council’s aspirations for a thriving community and a strong sense of belonging, and provides the guiding principles to support us in our role as an event producer, supporter, partner and enabler,” Cr Bell said.
“… I believe that Vibrant and Inclusive is a significant step in our council’s commitment to supporting our community’s aspirations.”
The draft events and festivals strategy will be open to stakeholder and community feedback from May 10 until June 7, 2023.
Following the feedback period, council will finalise Vibrant and Inclusive with consideration for feedback received and present it to council for adoption.
Details: participate.hume.vic.gov.au/events-and-festivals-strategy-draft
