Shepparton Festival

Twenty-five years ago, half a dozen people got together and thought Shepparton’s Maude Street Mall was a good place to have a gathering, Carmel Johnson was one of them. And that gathering was the Shepparton Festival. Now, 25 years later, Carmel reflects on a what was a chance to showcase talented local performers – and how many favours organisers called in from family, friends, neighbours and more.For more information visit sheppartonfestival.org.au

Events that bring people together and inspire people are probably the most memorable for Fiona Smolenaars. Terri Cowley spoke with the former chairperson of the Shepparton Festival board as part of her One FM 25 interviews for 25 years of the Shepparton Festival.For more information about the Shepparton Festival visit sheppartonfestival.org.au

Shepparton News’ John Lewis was there right from the start as a spectator 25 years ago. John describes the festival as something dear to his heart as there wasn’t a whole lot happening in terms of public arts events for the community to come together and celebrate in the mid ‘90s. He’s now a life member of the festival, but he’s also the first to admit he wasn’t one of those ‘hands-on’ members putting in time after work and weekends. “I was more going along as a media person to show my support and give the events some publicity,” he laughed. For more information visit sheppartonfestival.org.au

As the first ever Greater Shepparton City Council conventions and performing arts manager, Rob Robson was there to see the legwork of former council staff in getting a Community arts Management Board and a festival. “There were many, many meetings through the years of 94-95. There were false starts and there were challenges,” he said. The original intention was to show how Shepparton saw itself, now, he says the voice of Shepparton is the voice of multicultural Australia. For more information visit sheppartonfestival.org.au

Jim has had a wide involvement with the Shepparton Festival throughout the years, being a board member, festival photographer and even taking part in a festival event where he was described as a ‘tattoo fantasist’. One FM’s Terri Cowley talks to Jim – on his work commute – about how Word & Mouth got involved with the Shepparton Festival. For more info visit sheppartonfestival.org.au

Former Shepparton Festival director John Head believes art is a common language, allowing people to tell their story and bring our multicultural community together. One FM's Terri Cowley spoke with John as part of her 25 interviews for 25 years of Shepparton Festival and he shared his most memorable moments of the Shepparton Festival, including ploughing a longneck turtle into the paddock at Tallis Wines in Dookie. For more info about this year's festival visit sheppartonfestival.org.au

Sam Birrell has seen the Shepparton Festival grow over time, and he sees it as an opportunity to reflect how the community is feeling, as well as promote local talent. One FM's Terri Cowley spoke with Sam about how he feels about a winter festival and what may be in store for this year. The highlight for Sam is Shepparton Theatre Arts Group's 10 in Ten, and how that relates to this year's theme of 'unify'. You can see more info at sheppartonfestival.org.au and at stagtheatre.com

Jamie Lea hasn't had much luck with good weather on festival day, so why start a winter festival? Well, why not. Terri Cowley spoke with Shepparton Festival creative director Jamie as part of her One FM program to see what it meant to JL to be able to bring art experiences to the people of Shepparton and district as well as discuss this year's theme of 'unify'. Terri is interviewing 25 people to celebrate a quarter of a century for the festival. For more info visit sheppartonfestival.org.au