The Twenty-Fifth Rosebery Festival, the West Coast’s most vibrant family arts and music festival, will be celebrated over four days from 21 to 24 February this year.

The Rosebery Festival provides Rosebery and its region live music in several venues and art exhibitions. Saturday, the main day of the festival, features displays, markets, many children’s activities (for children of all ages), the Kids Disco, a Pet Parade, Colour Run, and The Great Billy Cart Race.

The Rosebery Festival showcases the unique character and achievements of local people and the towns in which they live. It also features great entertainment from further afield.

This year the entertainment includes Melbourne’s junkyard-blues duo Lily and King and Melbourne’s favourite Romanian trio, Vardos. Circ’S’Cool will also be performing some of their breathtaking stunts on Saturday afternoon.

 

The Rosebery Festival has much local support

The Rosebery Festival is the only free-to-the-public festival of its kind in Australia. This is achieved mainly by the generous support from local businesses and contractors servicing the West Coast mines.

Mrs. Jacqui Moyle, president of the Rosebery Festival’s Committee, said: “We receive amazing support from numerous local and regional businesses. The mine has been our biggest supporter but we also thank the many other businesses, large and small, which have all contributed to making the Rosebery Festival such a great success.”

Mrs. Loris Cole, secretary of festival’s committee, said: “We are very grateful to the numerous people who provide many hours of their free time to ensure the growing success of the Rosebery Festival.  We are proud of the fact that our festival is totally not-for-profit and completely free to the public. It is our way of giving back to a community that gives so much.”

 

Celebrating a quarter century

Mr. Paul O’Bryan, one of the founders of the Rosebery Festival, and still a member of the organising committee, recalled its small beginnings: “It was known in the early days as the ‘Irish, Axeman and Miners’ Bush & Blarney Festival’ and mainly featured folk, blues, Irish and acoustic music.

“For a while it was also called ‘The Rosebery Folk Festival’, but for some years we’ve had nearly every genre of music.

“It has now grown into a four-day event, encompassing all the arts, and featuring the talents of the whole community.”