Tumut's streets set to bloom in a dazzling night of light, art and culture

If you need any blooming reason to head to Tumut, mark 26 October on your calendar because it’ll be the only blooming place you’ll want to be that day, especially after dark.

In a springtime first for the town comes the Bloom Snowy Valleys Festival, which promises, according to organisers, a dazzling night of celebration of wonder, creativity and community spirit through the prism of light, art and culture.

The free on-street festival, which runs from 5 pm to 10 pm, will see the temporary partial closure of Elm Drive to make way for live performances, cultural activities, creative installations and interactive light features, with the event flowing into Rotary Pioneer Park.

If you head that way, expect to experience the Crazy Big Theramin interactive installation, audio engineer and lighting designer Adam Boon’s passion project, which utilises one of the world’s unique instruments, which is controlled without physical contact from the performer.

Keep your eyes peeled for a sneaky scattering of giant custom native flora and fauna lanterns, created by two Melburnians initially to enhance the natural beauty of their family wetlands and gardens in the evenings, which will now be featured throughout Bloom’s magical event space.

Also lighting up the night with joy and colour is an enchanting workshop, Lanterns on the Lagoon, which invites kids of all shapes and sizes to design and craft their very own lanterns to take home or hang on nearby trees.

Dance with illuminated ladybugs, find your way along a glow-in-the-dark chalk walk and marvel at the genius of Tina De Jon’s Murning Meadow sculptural installation.

Speaking of sculptures, what Snowy Valleys Festival would be complete without a Snowy Valleys Sculpture Art Trail installation?

This time, local sculpture artist Robyn Veneer-Sweeney and local students will bring their creative visions to life using mostly recycled and repurposed materials and invite festival attendees to participate by crafting their own pieces to contribute to this evolving artwork.

In addition to these captivating installations, the festival will feature live music, food trucks, a liquor zone showcasing Snowy Valleys suppliers, and an abundance of art, workshops and interactive activities – providing adventure and fun for the entire family.

Here you can get creative and bead a pen, twist a balloon or design a 24 oz tumbler, have your face painted and load up on temporary tattoos as you take part in a variety of games including badminton, volleyball, ring toss, soccer and more.

Aboriginal cultural workshops will demonstrate traditional weaving, painting and fire-making techniques, how bush medicines can be sourced from native plants and how stone tools are crafted.

Setting the vibe for the night, a main stage will come alive with high-energy performances from the Baker Boys Band, with their playlist of favourite classics to keep festival-goers dancing until their feet hurt.

They’ll be joined on stage and throughout the park by local talents Mollie Waters and Wild Tracks.

Tumut’s Oriental Hotel will host a vibrant Bloom Bar serving popular beers, ciders and wines, as well as stalls from Obsession Wines, Ladbroken Distillery Brewhouse, and Crafty Cider.

A variety of food vendors will be on site to satisfy your cravings, including Deniz Gozleme, La Crepe’Rit, Raven and Unicorn ice cream, Coffee Express, Bruno’s Woodfire Pizza and Woolshed Farms, and Tumut Rotary will be cooking up a barbecue.

All this is thanks to Snowy Valleys Council, which has teamed up with Business Snowy Valleys in making good use of a $150,000 grant under the NSW Government’s Open Streets Program.

Tumut was one of 130 communities across the state to secure the funding, geared to transform main streets into vibrant and welcoming public event spaces.

Snowy Valleys Council director of community and corporate Jessica Quilty said the overarching theme of Bloom was to cultivate a sense of belonging and connection in our community while activating our public spaces.

“With carefully curated local food vendors, interactive installations that encourage participation and engagement, and a range of activations designed to entertain and inspire, we aim to bring people together for a vibrant and memorable experience,” Ms Quilty said.

To ensure everyone can experience Bloom, free buses will transport visitors to and from Tumut, picking up passengers in Khancoban, Tumbarumba, Batlow, Adelong, Talbingo, Gundagai and Brungle.

Reserve your bus seat at www.bloomsnowyvalleys.au and secure your place at this unforgettable event.