It’ll be alright on the night........ Organising the Bundanoon Winterfest

A small departure from the travel blog, reliving last years prep for the Winterfest and hoping to get some more people involved in this years event.

July 2017…… No Winterfest………. Bugger. This is what I think many of Bundanoons’ inhabitants thought when we realised this great event was not going to happen. Whether you had been to all of them or just one, it was a special night where we got to meet neighbours, eat good food, have the odd glass of booze and dance badly in the forgiving darkness of the high street. The workshops that followed were an added bonus.

The good news is that Bundanoon is the kind of place that doesn’t accept defeat and in late 2017, a small group of volunteers began to meet to ensure that the village would not be disappointed in 2018. None of the team had been involved with Winterfest before (other than enjoying being there), but how hard could it be……………?

Over the next few months a core team of 5 began meet regularly to get the event on its 112exxcxcsaasscxacsxacsxacsxcascsxacsxcasxacxacsxacscs6axxacsxacsxacsxacsxacscsccscssc6acsxzc6acsxz6acsx6acsxcz6acsxcsccsz6acsxzxasc6cfåß≈Ωfeet. What should be the theme? How do we get sponsors? How much money do we need? What band? What stalls? These were the key questions among hundreds of others.

Early on it was decided to keep close to the old format that we were sure was arrived at through the hard work and trial and error of previous organising teams. Even with that decision, there was still much to do.

By early 2018, things were taking shape and the team began to focus on the detail. Often this was done with the aid of tea, biscuits and, occasionally, something stronger, sitting round kitchen tables in the homes of the team members. A group of strangers began to get to know each other’s strengths & motivations and bonded well.

Then there was the ground rush. No matter how much you do up front, the closer any project gets to the delivery phase, the more frantic it becomes. Getting artwork for the brochure, formatting this important publication before the JCG deadline, getting websites and social media up and running, ensuring the BCA were happy with the plans, matching workshops with venues and setting up the tickets on the website, street plans, liquor licences and 101 other things needed to be confirmed. All this by a team who mostly had full time jobs.

Setting up

Then there was the ground rush. No matter how much you do up front, the closer any project gets to the delivery phase, the more frantic it becomes. Getting artwork for the brochure, formatting this important publication before the JCG deadline, getting websites and social media up and running, ensuring the BCA were happy with the plans, matching workshops with venues and setting up the tickets on the website, street plans, liquor licences and 101 other things needed to be confirmed. All this by a team who mostly had full time jobs.

Winterfest kicks-off with the Street Party, followed by a week of workshops and initially all the energy is on the party. For the organising team it really ramps up about two days beforehand as braziers, stall signs and lights are brought from the BCA store in Moss Vale to Bundanoon. The day itself is a long one and the team found out the details that had been missed! Not enough plug gang sockets, a challenge of getting the electricity supply to the other side of the road, stall holders setting up in the wrong place overloading generators, where to put the snow machines and of course the big one, having the road closed off early enough for the ice rink to set up…….For the team this meant lots of questions, lots of improvisation, a little help from the community (Hoppy getting a friend to bring ladders along at short notice) and lots of steps (about 35,000 for some). We also cannot thank enough the small group of volunteers, mostly from outside the village, who helped set up stalls, manned gates and were generally patient with an organising team learning as they went.

1920 in Action

Did it work out? From the feedback given, whilst there is room for improvement in 2019, we think so.

Was it worth it for the team? Absolutely! Working together, seeing the results, contributing to the great community of Bundanoon and seeing so many smiles on the party night made it all worth while.

What next? The team want to make 2019 better than 2018. To do this we would love input from the community. Many hands make light work so a few more people in the organising team would be great. A more diverse team could also ensure that we look after the desires of the whole community (of note, all of the organising team had moved to Bundanoon less than three years ago). More volunteers on the night are needed, especially from the village, so that we do not have to rely on the good will of visitors to make it work.

If you want to help or give feedback, please email us at Winterfestinbundanoon@gmail.com.