As the story in today’s Post says, the Lilac City Festival is going ahead … sort of.
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The Festival, Lilac Time as locals call it, has received a stay of execution this year but will continue on in a somewhat anaemic fashion.
The Carnival in Montague Street has been retained, along with window displays, garden competitions, market days, the pet parade, a treasure hunt and a charity auction.
But gone are the Lilac Queen competition, the Fireworks and the Parade. Goneski. Kaput. Finit.
These three items have always been central to the festival and losing them is a little bit like saying “we’re retaining Christmas, just without Santa, presents and church.”
Losing [the Queen competition, Fireworks and Parade from Lilac Time] is a little bit like saying “we’re retaining Christmas, just without Santa, presents and church."
Having said that, we should be glad it has been retained at all, and it appears we have the new GM Warwick Bennett to thank. Having barely warmed the seat at Council, it seems he wants to have some time to work on the dilemma that is Lilac Time and not be rushed into a decision and that is to his credit.
The GM’s decision may stand against Council’s resolution last year to “call for Expressions of Interest from community organisations to run a spring festival on the October long weekend” but that resolution, if I’ve interpreted it correctly, is kind of bizarre to begin with. Not bizarre that it should be suggested, but bizarre that it’s come to this.
We have a spring festival, one of the longest running in the country. Replacing it with ANOTHER spring festival seems ludicrous.
Admittedly, Lilac Time’s not working at capacity. The parade has shrunk in size… the number of candidates for Lilac Queen thins by the year. And like pretty much anything on the planet, it could do with some new ideas and some (deliberate pun) spring cleaning.
But cutting and pasting a new festival over the top of the old one just seems to be taking great pains to avoid addressing the real problem. The elephant in the room.
“Reform, that ye may preserve.”
- Thomas Macaulay (1832)
The Lilac City Committee needs to be open to new membership and new leadership. Just like every community organisation on the planet.
That’s not to criticise the job done by the existing committee, or for that matter to praise it. Unemotionally, dispassionately and without any assessment or judgement of any kind, the Festival (or any other that would replace it FOR the community) can only succeed if it is OF the community. Here’s a few reasons why…
- People need a say.
- The widest possible cross-section of demographics and cultural interests should be represented on the committee (particularly the youth of Goulburn).
- All organisations need to regenerate to grow and prosper.
That’s not to say the people currently on the committee need to be turfed. If all who wish to join the committee are allowed to, and then that committee is allowed to elect its leadership (like every other incorporated organisation in the country) then democracy will figure out who holds the top spots. As it should be. And I can almost guarantee there’d be an injection of new blood… I know a bunch of hard-workers keen to get involved.
But we’re not living in the days of fiefdoms and serfs. Nobody, no matter how well intentioned and dedicated, has a right to a lifelong leadership of an incorporated community organisation.
Maybe the reason behind Council’s resolution was out of respect for the Festival Committee’s work over the years. Maybe they wanted the necessary changes to Lilac Time but didn’t want to be critical of the current Festival committee. Councillors added that “A renewal and injection of community enthusiasm for a community based spring festival is needed,” and that is spot on.
In 1832, Thomas Macaulay issued a warning to the ruling elite of the day that they must “Reform, that ye may preserve.” If they didn’t make changes, they’d lose it all. That’s where we are at now.
So, directly addressing the Lilac City Festival Committee, there really are only two options remaining:.
- OPEN YOUR DOORS! The committee is way overdue for a recruitment drive. Let us know how people can join the committee, don’t impose unrealistic barriers and make plans for an AGM to allot duties and roles.
- PREPARE TO BE REPLACED: If the committee doesn’t become open and transparent, a new committee would be set up and run either Lilac Time or a newly named replacement festival.
Actually there’s a third option... the whole thing gets destroyed.
Reform that ye may preserve. The people want a say. Do you hear the people sing?
They want the Lilac City Festival, just like you do, they just want to be involved as equals, and don’t feel anyone gets a lifetime role ruling it.
Please let us have some application forms to join the committee that we can link online or reprint in the print edition of the Post. Let us know how soon people can expect a response and we’ll invite applicants to let us know if they’ve been blocked.
Also, let us know when your meetings are so we can attend. The media has a vital role to play in promoting the festival and we are only too happy to help.
Either we open the doors to the current committee, or get cracking on starting it's replacement.
And if they DON'T open their doors then, sadly, they won't be remembered for all of the hard work they’ve done over the years but for their role in the Festival’s demise.