With feathers, furs, and flaming gargoyle pottery makers, it’s no wonder the small town of Murrumbateman was flocked by record numbers for the Field Days.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Attendance figures for this year's festival were the highest in the event's 36-year history.
A total of 26,000 visits were recorded at the Murrumbateman Recreational Grounds, up from last year's figure by 6,000. With 1,000 volunteers, 4,120 visitors under 12-years-old, 1,800 exhibitors, 390 stalls and approximately 410 separate exhibits.
Manager of the Murrumbateman Progress Association, Kim Williams, said that it feels like something out of X Factor, “This is just the best and biggest one ever!”
“It was truly amazing to see so many different faces. I would definitely have to say that the best part of the entire weekend was the number of smiles going around,” Mr Williams said.
“We experimented this year with younger volunteers, they were all teenagers running games for kids on the fields. We had 300 kids playing pass-the-parcel and there were heaps of games down there that the kids were really loving.
“The celebrity appearance of Fast Ed was a huge success, his shows were all packed out and he was fantastic; it added that extra special element.”
However, it wasn’t all fun and games, Mr Williams explained, as the sun cracked over the horizon Saturday morning, visitors began piling behind the entrants gates, stacked like matchbox cars along the Barton.
“It was a big mistake, we accidently advertised for the gates to be open at 7.30am, it was really supposed to be at 9. I’m sure around 1,000 visitors ended up giving up and going home,” Mr Williams said.
“We were able to get them open at 8, however I was just mainly concerned as to the safety of all the people setting up their stalls. I didn’t have a choice, we just had to wait, so I have to make an apology for that.
“However the rest of the weekend's traffic was under control by the fantastic volunteers.”
The Field Days traffic wasn’t the only issue, the stall owners and organisers had a terrible problem with telstra, with the large numbers saturating the cells and taking out the towns coverage. Reports of being unable to receive coverage were said to have reached as far as Yass.
“We couldn’t use any of the eftpos, particularly on Saturday morning. That was really the big issue, when people would come to purchase hundreds of dollars worth of products and were unable to use their cards.
“The more dangerous issue was that people were unable to reach any emergency services. We are fighting hard to fix this next year, this is the third year in a row that it has happened and it’s just unacceptable.”
“What we need is to get a cell on wheels, or to install a tower. With Murrumbateman growing it makes sense to just put a permanent tower in. Hopefully we can get Telstra to sponsor us.”
Organisers of the Field Days are putting together a dinner for all the volunteers of the event this Saturday night. Mr Williams expresses his warmest thanks to all of the people who helped out, saying that without their participation, the Murrumbateman Field Days would simply not happen.
“The staggering number of unpaid workers is testament to the nature of the Murrumbateman community.”