By Mikayla Van Loon
The second annual Lilydale Street Fair is just three months away with preparations in the final stages on what is set to be bigger and better than last year.
Lead coordinator Bec Rosel said building on the 2022 event, she and the committee wanted to put more of Lilydale on show.
“Building on last year has been really important. We’ve had really great enthusiasm and an excited vibe among the community,” she said.
“Having the base there from last year and knowing what we’re doing has allowed us to expand this year’s event. So we’re going to be showcasing the township and its diversity as much as we can.”
Without the backing of Bendigo Bank and the Yarra Ranges Council’s Urban Community Recovery Grant, Bec said hosting a second year would not have been possible, let alone making it bigger.
But with 80 stallholders already signed up, a larger opening parade expected and more space allocated along Main Street, including the soon to be upgraded Lions Park, the Street Fair has grown substantially from its inaugural event.
Stretching even further, the event will spread from Ralph Goode Reserve to Hutchinson Street, with activities and things to see, like the show n shine, all the way along.
Bec said engagement after last year’s event was mainly positive, making it all the more exciting to be putting on the Street Fair again for the town.
“It taught us that the community are really on board with this sort of event happening in the township of Lilydale, which was really pleasing,” she said.
“You just never know how it’s going to be received and the feedback that we received after last year’s Street Fair was extremely positive.”
But with every major event, it came with some bigger learnings as well and Bec said it has been something the committee has been working on in the lead up to December.
“Probably the biggest learning to come out of that was communication and we’ve really made a big effort this year to make sure that we have communicated to the businesses affected by road closures and given them plenty of warning to plan their Saturday 2 December.”
For the next three months, Bec said she and the committee would be “liaising, measuring and scheduling” to ensure all the finer details are ready to go.
A call out for volunteers will also go out in a few weeks.
“I don’t want people to be put off by the word volunteer, it’s really just people to help us on the day,” Bec said.
If interested in helping out on the day, contact Bec via email stayingpower@live.com or call 0414 272 330.
