With the young artists playing in front of a backdrop of autumn leaves and rustic corrugated sheds, the lane came alive with song and laughter. 

Singer and pianist Annie Hill performed a solo act and also accompanied her sister Eliza for the night, singing Scarlet by Brooke Frazer.    

“It is always great to perform with Eliza as we have grown up playing together, we know each other so well and Eliza is just an amazing pianist,” Annie said.  

“It was really great to participate because the environment was so laid back being organised by youth, it’s just a comfortable environment.” 

Annie’s style is a mix of pop and folk music, which suits her voice nicely. 

“What’s great is it's not intimidating at all, everyone is just so supportive. There’s a real sense of community, and everyone has an important role no matter what it is,” she said.  

“It’s like being in your own lounge room with all your friends.”

The weather was warm and the sky was blue, so the (mostly) chilled music rang out over the park and into the streets drawing in healthy crowds from 4 until 9pm.

'Vague's' Irish ballads were a magical start to the night, ending with artist 'Frankie', whose old soul voice gave the audience a collective shiver of pleasure. 

“My favourite part of the night was the end where we had a group song with all the performers,” Annie explained, “we hadn’t rehearsed so it sounded really bad, but everyone was smiling.” 

However, it wasn’t just the performers who were out to shine.

Youth councillors armed with iPads approached those in attendance to get some answers on youth mentality about life in the Yass Valley and ways of improving it. 

Councillor Jasmin Jones said that it was an empowering process for the young people of the community to help design and implement the survey.

"Once the data is reviewed in full I am hopeful it will fine tune advocacy on behalf of our young generation. With 80 responses so far, there are already a few trends emerging.

"Access to youth counselling services was clearly a leading issue that the under 17 years age bracket are very concerned with."

The youth present on Saturday was described by Cr Jones as some of the most engaged youth in our town. 

“It could be a warning signal that there are many more youth out there dealing with mental health and other life issues who are not plugged in to any network of support to get help if they need it,” she said. 

Youth were also asked whether local infrastructure met their needs and wants, and the responses were wide ranging from giant chess sets to canoes for the river, to a youth centre. 

Youngsters were also tested on their knowledge of underage drinking laws and fines.

Both youth councillors and organisers would like to express their thanks to Andrew and the amazing team at Thyme to Taste. A special thanks also went to this year's chief organiser Aluntum Sudnit, Nick Whiting for his fantastic lighting and sound, artist Kim Nelson and Yass Valley Council's Cathy Campbell.