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The Whyalla uneARTh Festival has again exceeded expectations to stamp itself as the city’s signature event.
In just its second year, the two-day arts, music and activities event attracted between 13,000 and 15,000 people to Ada Ryan Gardens over two days. The free festival was held on Good Friday and Easter Saturday this year in the gardens with a big line up of Adelaide Fringe acts, local performers and some headline acts from throughout South Australia.
In its first year, the festival attracted about 10,000 people and was voted the “People’s Choice” event in the prestigious SA Arts 2017 Ruby Awards. Whyalla Mayor Lyn Breuer said there was no reason this wouldn’t happen again and a big chance the festival would earn even higher acclaim after the weekend’s outstanding success.
“What a fantastic weekend and a big thank you to all the Whyalla people for coming along,” Mayor Breuer said.
“As a city, we wanted to create an event that appealed to a wide audience and we’ve achieved that with this festival.
“Places like Tamworth with the country musical festival are known for their signature event … here in Whyalla we now have our signature event that is already putting us on the map and will continue to grow and contribute to our economy and our community.
“It is the community that should be so proud of this event and so proud of their contribution to it.
“I was proud to accept the Ruby Award last year and so much credit must again go to the organising committee headed by our tourism and events officer Rebecca Neilson.
“Our council staff on this committee, and many other council workers who go above and beyond, do an amazing job along with the likes of Ryan Sutherland and Tamy Pond who do it all for love.
“Words can’t describe how much we appreciate you all.”
Not only did the event attract somewhere near 15,000 people to Ada Ryan Gardens, it also boasted a crowd of 1500 or more to the Rainbow Run which has become an important event within the event.
The foreshore was packed with runners, walkers and dancers dressed in white and all other manner of costumes for the run that sees harmless colour powder showered over the participants. The run started with an amazing all-in Bollywood dance lesson warmup from the Namaste Whyalla dancers.
“This was an incredible event for Whyalla with a Bollywood start to the run,” Mayor Breuer said.
“To see all these people dancing Bollywood style just goes to show what an amazing multicultural city Whyalla is and it is all the different cultures that have made our city so great.
“The uneARTh Festival is a celebration of the diversity we have in our city and the diversity we can bring to our city.
“We as a Council are so happy we can provide all of this free to the community and visitors in what is a wonderful event with something for everyone.”
Mayor Breuer also paid tribute to the business and community sponsors of the event. MagicFM, Whyalla News, Southern Cross TV, REX Regional Express, Bis, Country Arts SA and the Adelaide Fringe Festival were all vital supporters of the festival.
PICTURES
SPECTACULAR: The coloured powder goes up as the finale for the Rainbow Run held on Saturday on the foreshore as part of the 2018 Whyalla uneARTh Festival.
COMMUNITY EVENT: Whyalla Mayor Lyn Breuer enjoys the festival with former Whyalla schoolmate Rod Sutherland.
HARD AT WORK: Chair of the uneARTh Festival organising committee Rebecca Neilson juggles a phone, stays in touch and, as usual, was completely hands-on during the two days of the festival.
BIG CROWDS: The fans packed the dance floor and some get up on stage with Chunky Custard on Friday night.
