Party back to form

By Dion Teasdale
MARYSVILLE’S Wirr-eanda Festival has been reborn and will take over the town this weekend.
The two-day festival, to be staged in Marysville on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 March, features am impressive program of art exhibitions, live music, children’s activities, circus events and fine wine and food.
The Wirreanda Festival, which was first staged in Marysville in 1972, ran for almost 30 years before taking a break in the late 1990s.
“For the past few years, people have been saying, ‘Marysville needs a festival’, and there was a lot of support for bringing Wirreanda back,” festival steering committee member, Sam Hicks, said.
“The new Wirreanda, which means meeting of the tall trees, is a celebration of the local community and will feature high quality music acts and unique art exhibitions.”
Ms Hicks said the festival would be kick-started by the staging of the Marysville Longest Lunch in the gardens of Marylands Country House.
“Talented chefs from across the Upper Goulburn region will pamper visitors with fresh local produce and premium local wines,” she said.
The music program for the festival includes live performances from the Miscellany Ensemble, The Six Foot Fours, a barbershop quartet, the Flirting Mazurkas, a cabaret act, and an Aussie bush band, featuring members of the Bushwhackers.
Other festival highlights include performances by members of the Flying Fruit Flies Circus, a farmers market, a hat parade, a mad hatter’s tea party, face painting and a fishing competition.
For more information, contact Marysville Visitor Information Centre on 5963 4567 or check www.marysvilletourism.com.