By Andrew Paloczi
HEAVIER rain held off until about 7.30pm allowing for lots of family fun at the Southern Lights Festival, with many people arriving at Coal Creek early and enjoying live music before darkness arrived.
Most of the musicians were from South Gippsland or Gippsland more broadly, with Korumburra locals such as Kaylah Thomas and Jenny Taylor in the lineup, both appearing on the Rotunda Stage.
South Gippsland band The Stony Six helped set the mood, hitting the Mechanics Stage at 4pm.
Hot Tub performed popular covers, keeping people’s minds off the cool conditions.
There were two lots of fireworks, the first at 7.30pm allowing families to take in the spectacular show before heading home to dry out.
While the bonfire was on a smaller scale than that of a couple of years ago, it still appeared from lower vantage points the Coal Creek bushland was ablaze.
With the Festival a sellout, 2500 tickets snapped up, and many braving the cold and damp, event manager Shirley Arestia was delighted with how everything went, pleased to add to Korumburra’s winter entertainment that tends to be sport-dominated.
“We were pretty lucky with the weather,” she said, remarking that concerns of worse conditions failed to put many off.
“Lots of people still turned up and they all had a great time and there was no negative feedback.”
People explored the grounds of Coal Creek, seeing bright butterflies and other giant glowing insects, wandering through a lit archway and checking out the patterns on artistic lanterns.
There was a great selection of food, helping minimise queues, and attendees took any waiting in their stride.
Friends of Coal Creek and Korumburra Lions Club provided volunteers who helped make the Southern Lights Festival a great success.
