MURTOA”S BIG WEEKEND ONLY 9 WEEKS AWAY

Planning for this year’s Big Weekend is well underway with the committee now finalising the program for this year’s events.

The committee is extremely pleased to announce that the Murra Warra Wind Farm has agreed to be a Major Sponsor of this year’s Big Weekend and they will be supporting the Family Fun and Film Night with a Fireworks Display at Lake Marma on Friday evening. This event was very successful last year, and we trust that it will be again this year.

This year the Art Exhibition and Sale has been reintroduced under a slightly different format and will display not only paintings, but other works of art including Sculpture and Quilting. Many of the works on display will be available for sale

Another new attraction being introduced this year is The Scarecrow Competition which promises to add a whole lot of colour to Marma and Duncan Streets during and over the period leading up to the Big Weekend.

After a slight hitch the organisation of the Annual Show on Friday is steaming ahead under the guidance of new President Tom McGrath.

Saturday morning’s Street Market and Show’n’Shine promises to be another outstanding event with financial support for the Show’n’Shine coming from the RACV. The Murtoa Cup Race Meeting on Saturday afternoon is shaping up to be a great day out.

Saturday afternoon will offer something special for the youth as the Secondary College will be offering a Gaming competition between 2.00pm and 5.00pm. Gaming, that is Computer Gaming is becoming very popular with our younger generation and the committee hope this event will fill a bit of a void which has existed for our youth in past years.

The Stick Shed will again feature a community choirs program culminating in a massed choir presentation on Saturday afternoon. The shed will open for public viewing on each of the three days of the Big Weekend.

The Water Tower Museum and Sumpoilers will open on Saturday and Sunday with both offering plenty to see and do when visiting.

This year’s Ecumenical Service on Sunday morning will feature as guest speaker former Murtoaite, Glen Mills, Executive Trustee and Program Manager for Asia and Africa for the Delivering Better Lives Foundation.

The Colour Run introduced last year is another event aimed at the younger generation and proved to be extremely popular. This will take place around Lake Marma commencing at 9.00am Sunday morning.

As mentioned earlier the committee is very pleased to have the Murra Warra Wind Farm as a Major sponsor for this year’s Big Weekend. Over most of the past 21 years that the festival has been conducted our major sponsor has been GrainCorp, unfortunately due to drought conditions existing in Northern Australia , GrainCorp are unable to continue their most generous support for the Big Weekend.

While the Murra Warra sponsorship has filled a gap the committee is facing a shortfall in funding for this years events. We are therefore encouraging all local businesses to continue with their past support and if any member of our community who may wish to offer support in the form of a small donation it would be greatly appreciated.