The banks of the Mehi River will be bursting with great music, entertaining yarns and a little bit of bocce during the second weekend of September, for the inaugural Magic on the Mehi festival.
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The three-day festival of music, poetry, comedy and games will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 9-11 at ‘Wandoona’, Gwydirfield Road, Moree and is set to be a fantastic community event.
Murray Hartin, Mitch Johnstone and Mitch Cosh have teamed up to organise the event, which grew from a small idea into something much bigger.
“We wanted to give something for the town to put it on the map,” Hartin said.
The idea is for the festival to grow to attract “caravaners, coaches and grey nomads” to Moree, bringing with them a boost to the local economy.
“If we can get through this first year, next year we’ll get a lot more outside people coming which brings a lot of money into town,” Hartin said.
Hartin said he has received lots of support from the community, in particular Moree Plains Shire Council who have provided a $2750 grant and Moree Tourism who have gotten on board to promote the event.
“The support has been fantastic,” Hartin said.
Magic on the Mehi kicks off on Friday, September 9 with a two-man poet show by Hartin and Marco Gliori, as well as musical performances by former locals Luke Butler and his son Sam, Andrew Simpson and comedian Alan Glover.
Saturday will be the main day of the festival, kicking off at midday with a kids poetry competition. There will be three different age categories with prizes for each.
“It’s not so much a competition, just an opportunity for the kids to get up and have a go; they can do whatever they like,” Hartin said.
There will also be billy-boiling and damper-cooking competitions, as well as a sausage sizzle, plenty of food stalls and a bar in operation.
To add to the festival-like atmosphere, there will be a variety of old-fashioned games including bocce, quoits and badminton.
Saturday night’s headline act will be six-time Golden Guitar winner Luke O’Shea, who will perform into the night.
A casual poets breakfast, yarns and music will wrap-up the festival on Sunday.
Organisers encourage everyone to purchase their tickets online now at www.magiconthemehi.com.au, as prices will go up at the gate. Entry is free for under 18s.
Proceeds from the event will support the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and the Pallamallawa Public School.
Sponsorship packages are still available, so if businesses or individuals would like to get on board, contact Murray Hartin on 0419 606 116 or muz@murrayhartin.com.
