Adedicated group of volunteers have saved a vital event in a local coastal community with a history spanning over 30 years.
After a three-year hiatus caused by the combined impact of COVID-19 and dwindling volunteer support, the Bay Escape Festival was in dire need of assistance to make its return next year.
An annual general meeting held last week seeking committee members received an overwhelming response with over half the 20 attendees putting their hand up to volunteer.
The revitalised committee will be made up of 13 people, most of whom are either a Port MacDonnell or Allendale resident or have ties to the seaside township.
Bay Escape Festival event coordinator Ryan Donovan said the response by volunteers was fantastic stating they did not want to see the end of the beloved event.
“I think that was what drove the attendance of the AGM, people were concerned that it might not be able to continue so there was a lot of excitement from the people at the AGM,” he said.
“A lot take pride in the event and people wanted to make sure that it goes forward, it can continue to evolve and grow and make sure it is suitable for what the community is looking for.
“There are some new faces and some new ideas and some people with some great experience in different areas, it will bring new skill sets to the committee which will be fantastic.
“We will catch up again in a couple of weeks, get down a few different things and work out what are the critical things we need to get started on to make sure that we are in a position to put the event on in 2024.”
As one of the Limestone Coast’s longest-running festivals, the Bay Escape has been held annually at Port MacDonnell, serving as an all-ages street party featuring the best food, wine, vendors, and live music from renowned musicians in the region.
Previously known as the Bayside Festival, the Bay Escape underwent a major rebranding in 2019 based on valuable community feedback and was relaunched with a focus on food, wine, and coastal themes which resulted in overwhelming success.
The last time the event took place was in 2020 with this year’s festival cancelled due to a lack of momentum and support which meant organisers did not have the resources available to put the event on.
Mr Donovan said he hopes to keep the event to a similar format as the last Bay Escape Festival with the potential for new aspects to be explored by the group.
“I think a lot of people enjoyed the nature of the event when we last held it so I think it will be a similar theme to that and just try and build on that and make some slight changes where necessary,” he said.
“In response to the numbers that we did get, a lot of people seemed to be happy the event would be going ahead, there was a lot of positive engagement on Facebook and things like that.
“We want to thank the community support we had and those people for taking the time to be at the AGM but also then committing to be on the committee and to those that have taken executive roles as well.
“It can be a thankless task at times, so we are very grateful for that and look forward to putting on a great event.”
