When heavy rain forced a concert power turn-off at the 24th annual Swiss Italian Festa on Saturday, organisers had an innovative answer.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
We made it an acoustic session and invited all the audience on stage to dance.
- Swiss Italian Festa organiser Bec Anderson
“We made it an acoustic session and invited all the audience on stage to dance,” organiser Bec Anderson said.
Ms Anderson said the festa was going very well, despite the inclement weather.
“It held off for the parade and we had hundreds and hundreds of children there.
“The circus also played to a packed house because it was inside so that was a huge success.”
The festa finished Sunday night with fireworks and a lantern parade, with local schools hand making 500 of the lights. Over the past few weeks organisers had spent time at six primary schools, constructing the lanterns which took pride of place at the lantern parade.
The festa celebrates the heritage and history of the early Swiss and Italian pioneers in the Hepburn Shire.
Ms Anderson said the event had become ingrained in the region’s culture, which had helped ensure its longevity. “There’s been a real determination to keep the festa alive, because it’s such a part of peoples growing up here generationally.”