Message from the Mayor – Future of Mildura Country Music Festival

Published on 04 October 2017

As I look around at the thousands of visitors enjoying our beautiful region this week thanks to the Mildura Country Music Festival, it concerns me that this could be the festival’s last year following a lack of state government funding for this iconic event.

The Mildura Country Music Festival is one of our longest running and most successful events, injecting millions of dollars into our economy on an annual basis.

This is evidenced once again this year when you look at all the hotels, motels and caravan parks that are booked out, and the amount of activity in our streets, pubs and clubs.  

If we can’t secure ongoing state government funding for the festival, then the future of this event is in jeopardy.

The government needs to have a look at what’s going on, take note, and consider its event funding priorities in regional and rural Victoria, particularly when you look at the amount of funding that goes into the AFL Grand Final parade, and the fact the government declared it a public holiday.

The government needs to realise how regional events run, what they mean to the regional economy and the flow-on benefits in terms of jobs.

I think it’s time the Victorian Government re-thinks funding the Mildura Country Music Festival, which has now been running for more than 31 years and is a major component of our annual events program.

Cr Glenn Milne

Mayor

Mildura Rural City Council