Wyndham’s Weerama festival has been cancelled and its future thrown in doubt after almost 40 years on the community calendar.
The festival’s organising committee last week held an extraordinary meeting, deciding against this year’s event, which had been scheduled for March 14 and 15.
As reported by Star Weekly, funding shortfalls and dwindling support have signed the death knell for the event, which was first held in 1978.
In July last year, Wyndham council told organisers it had concerns about the event, including its impact on Werribee CBD traders, as well as safety, risk management and governance issues.
In a letter sent last October, council’s chief executive Kerry Thompson called on the committee to re-design the festival to “meet the needs of the community and local businesses”.
Festival committee secretary Dani Acciarito said organisers had gone “above and beyond” to make changes requested by the council.
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2014 Weerama festival picture gallery
“The council asked us to change the location and completely restructure the festival, which would have been impossible in just a few months,” Ms Acciarito said.
“They also wanted us to downsize the event to one day and cancel the street procession.”
Wyndham mayor Peter Maynard said the restructure was requested after complaints about last year’s event by Werribee CBD businesses, but these did not extend to cancelling the procession. He said it was important that the festival was seen as a flagship event for the wider community.
A follow-up survey by the council found 42 per cent of businesses felt the festival impacted “negatively or very negatively” on their trade.
“An event like Weerama should have a positive impact on business,” Cr Maynard said.
Ms Acciarito said the committee is confident Weerama still has a future.
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