By Tyler Wright
Emerald’s PAVE Festival is set to return to the Hills with a bang in November after receiving a $30,000 grant from the state government, and under the name PAVED.
Recipients of the government’s Small and Medium Events Program received funding designed to attract more visitors, boost employment, and support local businesses in Greater Melbourne.
PAVED Festival coordinator Non Blair said it “means the world” to have an extra funding boost to the festival, which ran on a “very small” scale in 2022.
“Having that small festival brought people out and and so many people were saying ‘are we going to do the same next year? and at that stage, we didn’t have any funding, so we were kind of going, ‘oh, we don’t know whether it’s going to go ahead.'”
“Then we saw this grant opportunity come up, so Lynne Trensky and I applied for it and we were thrilled to get it… within this electorate, we were only one of two that got the funding.”
Ms Blair said the committee had to match the grant amount with their own funds.
“Part of that is coming from Cardinia Shire Council, some will come from EDRA, the Eastern Dandenong Ranges Association, some will come from ticket sales and sponsorships.”
PAVED, which stands for Performing And Visual arts in the Eastern Dandenongs, will be extended across key townships in 2023, including Belgrave, Cockatoo and Gembrook from 24 November to 26 November.
The PAVE Festival has been running in Emerald since 2004 as a collaboration between businesses and artists of all genres.
The three day festival will feature musical and artistic performances across more than 20 venues, with hopes to include a twilight Christmas traders and street fiesta of Friday 24 November as well as interactive play spaces and face painters on Saturday 25 November.
Other key events taking part in the festival on Sunday 26 November include art shows and literary events, the Emerald Rotary Kids Fun Run against Puffing Billy and the Gembrook Market.
“We’ll have events that hold up to 100 people and so if all of those sell out, there’s probably 1000 people to start with,” Ms Blair said.
“If you had another thousand people in each town, we’re probably getting close to 10,000 people over the weekend.”
Ms Blair said the event is about bringing people together, and bringing people up to the Eastern Dandenong Ranges.
“It’s just before Christmas as well, so hopefully, rather than going to the big shopping centres, people will shop locally because all the shops and traders and restaurants are showing what they can do and how wonderful they are,” she said.
The events will be ticketed or linked through the PAVE website and featured on easterndandenongranges.com.au and Visit Victoria in October.
122 event organisers have been approved to share in almost $3 million funding to deliver events between 1 June and 31 December through the Small and Medium Events Program.
