A Festival Full of Watery Delights

The 2023 Nagambie On Water Festival has been hailed a fantastic success, with festival-goers thrilled by the celebration of water activities which took place on and beside the beautiful Lake Nagambie on february 25th.

Nagambie On Water Festival organisers say thousands of people joined in the activities during the day attracting visitation to the region.

Andrea Richards, Nagambie on Water committee member said, “ e NOW festival was a buzz of activity and entertainment on and o the water and it was terri c to see the festival back in town showcasing our lakeside community.

Go Nagambie executive o cer Sissy Hoskin said, “We took a punt and decided to hold the event on a ‘non’ long weekend to entice visitation to town. We are delighted with the outcome. Many businesses in town reported increased foot tra c and the new on water in atable park, Wacky Splash & Play smashed all records reaching capacity during the a ernoon sessions. e GoNagambie Club2Pub open water swim was once again a challenge for young and adult swimmers with over 120 competing. It is always a popular event both for the swimmers and spectators and this year was no exception. e 600 metres was raced on the eastern side of the Lake’s bowl area and the 1.1km race further out on the western side of the Bowl.

Ms Richards said the feedback from visitors about the event was overwhelming.

“We’re always very proud of this event, but when visitors to town and long term residents tell you that it’s the best value for money event they have taken their families to in quite some time, well we think that’s a pretty impressive accolade,” she said.

Strathbogie Shire’s Town Crier James Carter announced the start of the 16th NOW Festival and performed his Town Crier duties admirably on the day. Mr Carter has become a regular at the annual event with the 2023 festival marking his 16th appearance.

Race Spectators encouraged the swimmers to complete the course from the park swim launch area and the lakeside viewing points.

Event lead, John Hurley said, “ e Swim was a huge success, with participants enjoying the challenge of the 1.1km and 600m swim. It was great to be back in the lake bowl for the swim and we look forward to growing the event in 2024 and beyond.’ e annual Costa Community Canoe Challenge was opened by local MP Annabelle Cleeland, who paid tribute to the important work of local emergency service and frontline workers, including Victoria Police, the CFA, Ambulance Victoria and Nagambie Healthcare. e sailing boats were a site to be seen on Lake Nagambie with Nagambie Sailing Club Commodore Beverley Guest-Smith reporting that the phrase spoken o en at the festival was “How lovely to see sails on the lake”.

Some folk relaxed while cruising the lake on the Go Adventure Nagambie pontoon boat cruise and some became competitive in the Costa Canoe Team Challenge. e operators of the GoAdventure Stay and Play activities were very happy with the response of the patrons who enjoyed the canoes, kayaks, hobie boards, pedal boats or water boards and other leisure watercra fun. e Tahbilk Great Grape Stomp was squishy for competitors, the Great Kelvingrove Floating Golf Shoot saw many oating golf balls hit into the lake with a handful landing on the green and the Elloura Colour splash coloured many a body and the Goulburn Gallop Yabbie races attracted a crowd.

Younger visitors loved the bungee trampoline, laser tag, water orbs, petting zoo and climbing wall.

St Joseph’s School and Nagambie Primary Schools' Festival artwork was well worth a look and there were a few lucky winners that took home a prize thanks to sponsorship from Nagambie Newsagency, Nagambie Post O ce, Nagambie Outdoors and Nagambie Bargains.

Continued on page 3.

Would

The Community Voice is a free community newspaper published by Go Nagambie on a fortnightly basis. The Community Voice has an average fortnightly circulation of 2000 Anyone interested in obtaining a copy of the Community Voice can collect one from the following circulation points: Nagambie Visitors Information Centre, Nagambie Newsagency, Nagambie Iga, Nagambie Post Office, Nagambie HealthCare – (for resident collection), Kelvin Grove Village (for resident collection), Nagambie Leisure Park, Avenel Post Office.

What we do

Go Nagambie is the promotional name for the regions incorporated Chamber of Commerce – Nagambie Lakes Tourism and Commerce Inc.

Our vision is to make Nagambie, a premier regional centre for liveability, investment, visitation and events, with our focus being to unashamedly promote Nagambie and the surrounding regions through the support of our local community and businesses.

If you have any queries relating to Go Nagambie and/or memberships on offer, please contact Sissy Hoskin on 0419 627 276 or email executiveofficernltc@gmail.com

There are exciting times ahead for Nagambie in terms of economic and tourism development and we hope you will join us as we continue to grow.

The Go Nagambie committee meets every 4 to 6 weeks with their Annual General Meeting usually held in October each year, gonagambie.com.au

Follow on Facebook and Instagram.

The Committee

President: Lee Rowland

Vice President: Belinda Beer

Melanie Likos

Secretary:

Treasurer:

Bruce Minchinton

Executive Officer: Sissy Hoskin

General Committee:

John Beresford

Rosie Metherall

Rob Gardner

Steve McCoach

Malcolm Little

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily contained within the Community Voice is correct. Personal views expressed in this pubclication are soley agents. Reproduction in whole is strictly prohibited without prior consent. Photographic rights remain the propery Newspaper.

Art Competition Winners

Nagambie Primary School

Emily 1/2 F

Isla 5/6 B

Dakota 5/6 P

St Josephs Primary School

James and Arielle e Stars Down Under Water Ski and Stunt show team were excited to be back on Lake Nagambie delighting onlookers with their one hour exhibition of skill and athleticism ending the day in spectacular fashion.

“Everyone I’ve spoken to about the festival has a great story of stumbling across an artwork, winning the yabby race, being covered in chalk or just enjoying the lakeside experience.

Ms Hoskin said, “I want to highlight the incredible work put in by the sub committee of Go Nagambie - Team NOW. ey went above and beyond to deliver the festival.

“We’re also really grateful to have the consistent and generous support of the businesses and the community of Nagambie which allowed us to deliver a fantastic Festival yet again.”

“We must acknowledge and thank the visitors and residents who came along to be part of the festival. Given the impact that the pandemic and the recent ooding event has had on the regions and in particular the township of Nagambie, it was terri c to nally see NOW – getting back to normal.” e Nagambie on Water Festival was made possible through the collaborative partnership with Go Nagambie and the former Nagambie on Water committee. Go Nagambie would like to extend their gratitude to all those who helped make the festival such a memorable and enjoyable experience.