THE Lilac Show will go on this year, following a meeting between organisers and the council.
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Council has agreed to help out with the carnival in Montague St, associated road closures and a traffic management plan, general manager Warwick Bennett said. But the Lilac Queen competition, the street procession and the fireworks at Seiffert Oval will be missing from this year’s event.
Mr Bennett met with festival committee members Yvonne Neale and Heather Landow on Friday. It followed Council’s failure to follow through on an October resolution to call for expressions of interest in a spring festival.
He described it as a productive meeting.
“We have agreed that the Lilac Festival will proceed again this year on the October long weekend,” he said.
“The Lilac City Festival is recognised as one of Australia’s longest running festivals and Council is delighted to be able to work with the festival’s organisers to ensure that another great event happens in Goulburn.
“Already they have organised window displays, garden competitions, market days, the pet parade, a treasure hunt and a charity auction.”
He said the normal carnival attraction would also be coming to Goulburn again this year, with the Friday afternoon of the festival dedicated to people in our community with a disability.
“Council will close Montague Street between Sloane and Auburn Streets from Thursday morning through to Sunday night. Council will also allow the use of Belmore Park free of charge,” Mr Bennett said.
Similarly, fees will not be charged for the road closure. Council and the Lilac committee have had a tense relationship in recent years. The former has tried to glean annual financial statements on the event to justify its backing but has been unsatisfied with the response.
That tension was swept aside in Friday’s meeting.
“I’ve said to them ‘forget about what happened in the past but we do want the financial statements for next year,’” Mr Bennett said.
He has contacted every councillor for feedback and gained approval for the approach. As for the procession’s future, Mr Bennett said Council would be devoting its energies to the March street parade, coinciding with Heritage week.
Festival organisers decided on a scaled down two-day event after Council pulled its support last year.
Mrs Landow said she was generally pleased that Council wanted to help.
“Unfortunately they wouldn’t entertain the street procession,” she said.
“We didn’t ask about the fireworks because we couldn’t afford it this year anyway. We had to obtain sponsorship for it and that was a tall order in such a short timeframe.”
The uncertainty over this year’s event also means the Lilac Queen competition is not going ahead. But the pet parade, garden competition, Doll, Bear and Craft Fair, free entertainment in the park all weekend, a blacksmith display and a bush dance in St Saviour’s Hall on the Saturday evening will proceed. Markets will be held in Belmore Park on the Saturday and Sunday.
Mrs Landow said the committee had no problem with handing over financial statements. “We have nothing to hide,” she said. “There’s no money hidden anywhere, which is what they (Council) said in the past. That’s wrong.”
She predicted a strong future for the Festival provided organisers injected new aspects into its “traditional base.”
She was buoyed by Mr Bennett’s letter stating it was vital that Council and the Committee have a good working relationship “to continue the success of the Lilac Festival for many years to come.”
This year organisers will celebrate the 63rd Lilac City Festival.