What's On

Eurobodalla Shire Council has granted $25,000 to the River of Art festival to create large-scale street art murals that celebrate the community's resilience and renewal after the Black Summer bushfires. The murals will remain as permanent public artworks, with two in Batemans Bay, two in Narooma and one in Moruya. During the festival’s nine days from 18-27 September, the collaborative...

From the ashes of the Dunns Road bushfire arises a reason for the communities of Batlow, Tumut and Tumbarumba to celebrate with the announcement of a new festival to aid bushfire recovery. Exactly one year after the calamitous 50-day fire wrought havoc on families, farms, towns, villages and forests in the region east of Kosciuszco National Park, there will be...

Among those South Coast institutions adapting to COVID restrictions is the Far South Film Festival, which will be held online or the first time on August 23 this year and will be followed by an awards presentation on the same day. The Film Festival Awards will be hosted by award-winning actor Frankie J Holden and actress and President of the...

The latest additions to Batemans Bay's Sculpture Walk have provoked a social media storm, with some critics labelling one a "dangerous rust bucket" and another "malnourished whale tails". For the small, hardworking Sculpture for Clyde committee, it could be seen as a kick in the guts, but volunteer Maggie Brennan prefers to look at it as lively public debate. "It's...

With the 2020 River of Art Festival scheduled to start in September, artists are being urged to enter their work in this year’s festival art prize. Working within COVID-19 restrictions, the festival’s art prize will be a highlight of the Eurobodalla’s annual celebration of the region’s rich artistic life. Now in its 15th year, arts events will be held from...

Canberra District wineries crushed by drought, bushfires and COVID-19 are hopeful the upcoming Fireside Festival, from 14-31 August, will deliver a much-needed boost for business. The festival will go ahead despite COVID-19 restrictions, with limited capacity at events and visitors required to book beforehand. Events open to large gatherings, such as the Fireside tasting market, have been cancelled. Vineyards, cellar...

Bega Valley Shire Council wants to address the public's concerns for the future and is partnering with The Global Foundation to deliver a unique, regional roundtable discussion on Monday, 10 August, featuring local, national and global participation. Council hopes the event will facilitate the region to fulfil its potential. Key speakers on the day – via Zoom video conferencing – include...

In spite of bushfires, floods and COVID-19, art is alive and well in the Bega Valley Shire. A new digital arts showcase launched on Saturday (1 August), promoting the region's artists, musicians and talent. The Bega Valley Regional Gallery (BVRG) launched Art Month Sapphire Coast 2020, a digital celebration of artistic talent from the region, while the gallery itself hosts...

Six months after being devastated by bushfire, the Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Garden, near Mogo on the NSW South Coast, will throw open its gates to the public on Saturday, 4 July. Ranked as the region’s number one tourist attraction by Tripadvisor, the gardens were hit hard by the New Year's Eve blaze in 2019. More than 95 per cent of...

Australia has a rich and proud, and at times controversial, sporting history. The captain of the Australian Cricket Team was once said to be the second-most important person in the country (behind only the Prime Minister). In their next Learning Program webinar, the National Library of Australia will be taking a closer look at some of our Aussie Sports Heroes and...

The Gallery at Mogo will reopen on Friday, 19 June, with a feature exhibition by artist Judy Lawler. Creative Arts Batemans Bay (CABBI) renovated The Gallery at Mogo during the COVID-19 shutdown and is now ready to stage its first post-bushfire exhibition. The exhibition will be open for eight weeks and includes Judy's early works, such as Beach Fun at...

Eurobodalla Shire Council will hold an online workshop next Tuesday, 16 June at 11 am to share insights and tips on saving energy and staying warm this winter. Householders can join the online workshop, which will help with simple no-cost and low-cost ways to save energy, reduce power bills and lower emissions. Council’s sustainability coordinator Mark Shorter said the workshop...

For years, Goulburn writer Nigel Featherstone has been writing about war and death. His libretto The Weight of Light was about a soldier returning to Crookwell from Afghanistan with PTSD, followed by Bodies of Men, an acclaimed novel set mostly in Egypt during World War II. For The Story of the Oars, his gaze has returned home, to a long-forgotten...

"With great sadness and regret," the email from Four Winds Easter Festival begins, "we have decided not to go ahead with the 2020 Easter Festival in Bermagui." The Four Winds Easter Festival joins the growing ranks of cancelled community events around the country because of COVID-19, which was categorised as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on 11 March....

Smiles abounded at Merimbula’s Fishpen Cove. The Annual ‘Festival of the Small Dish’ EAT Merimbula was packed with hungry people by 10:30 am with more streaming in along the beautiful lakeside promenades, perusing the dozens of stalls. At 10:01 am exactly, the Town Crier began, an oyster punt skippered by Captain Sponge floated past loaded with impressive Taiko Drummers complete with...

‘Angels and Waratahs’ is a new exhibition opening at The Hive Queanbeyan on Saturday 14 March. The joint exhibition presents paintings by Major’s Creek artist Jane Ahlquist alongside the earthy ceramics by Queanbeyan’s Galia Shy. The show responds to the torment of the natural environment through the tempestuous summer of bushfires and the nurture of the bush as new growth...