2020 Benalla Festival unable to proceed

Published on 24 August 2020

The 2020 Benalla Festival is unable to proceed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Festival was scheduled from 31 October – 8 November 2020 and usually includes community, rural township and other events like the Lake Foreshore entertainment, fireworks, street parade and Day in the Gardens market.

Benalla Festival Advisory Committee Chair, Cr Barbara Alexander said having to cancel the Festival is a great disappointment.

“The Benalla Festival is a real highlight of our annual community calendar and there are so many groups and individuals who are looking forward to it,” Cr Alexander said.

“Not holding the Festival this year is a great disappointment for me and I am sure for the whole community, as it is our chance to celebrate the vibrancy of Benalla and District. It is however the responsible thing for us to do because the safety of everyone in our community comes first and there are restrictions in place.

“I know it is tough, but even the smaller Festival events, or any events for that matter, that maybe attract 40 or 50 people are not possible under the current restrictions.”

2021 Benalla Festival receives Australian Government Funding

Planning for the 2021 Benalla Festival is underway, with the Australian Government announcing $26,400 under the Festivals Australia program for The Village Festival of New Performance to deliver The Game, a large-scale, interactive community competition that reinvents theatre sports.

The Village Festival of New Performance has delivered programming at the Benalla Festival’s Lake Foreshore event for the previous two years.

“This funding and planning for the 2021 Festival is important to helping our community recover from this pandemic and in bringing events and festivals safely back to Benalla,” Cr Alexander said.

“I am looking forward to the 2021 Benalla Festival already and with the 2020 event not proceeding, I hope the rest of the community is looking forward to it as well.”