There is an inside joke among local residents that Belgrave is the ‘cultural centre of the universe’.
It certainly felt that way over the weekend of 17-18 October, when hundreds of literary lovers descended on the town for our own very first Dandenong Ranges Literary Festival.
On the Opening Night on Friday 17 October, Cameo Cinemas was packed with people who smiled and sighed along with award-winning author Hannah Kent as she recalled in her keynote speech how a year in Iceland as an 18-year-old student changed her life forever.
Afterwards, long queues formed around the Book Barn where Kent signed books and chatted with her charmed and very inspired readers.
On Saturday 18 October, about two dozen festival organisers and volunteers dashed back and forth between the Belgrave Community Hub and Belgrave Library – using the pedestrian crossing of course! They set up venues and equipment, and then guided authors and festival attendees to a wide range of panel discussions and workshops.
At both locations, works of fiction and non-fiction were discussed and debated, and personal experiences and insights were exchanged with a great deal of enthusiasm and humour.
Hundreds (if not thousands) of books were bought and signed, and numerous literary conversations were held between authors and fans and among the audiences themselves.
Along the Belgrave main street, bakeries, cafes and restaurants benefited from the literary event as people dropped in for drinks, snacks and meals. In front of those local businesses hosting book-swap boxes, festival attendees browsed the goods and services on display while leaving and/or taking pre-loved books.
You get the feeling that visitors to the festival were surprised and delighted by the beautiful scenery and rich cultural atmosphere on the hills.
The weekend’s good weather helped, for sure, but it is the cultural landscapes of the Dandenong Ranges – the unique sense of place shaped by the long and intimate relationship between local artists and their natural environment – that were vividly conveyed through the festival and keenly embraced by all participants.
It is the question “When will the next festival be?” that many visitors eagerly asked, and how parents tended to their children while listening attentively to panellists sharing the tricks and tips of writing for young readers. It is the sound of hearty laughter and giggles among the audience as authors bantered with each other, and how the kids sat perfectly still and listened, wide-eyed, to an animated reading of Puffing Billy stories. It is how an experienced journalist pulled up a chair to have a deep conversation with a curious reader, and how a group of authors stayed long after their own panels to cheer on and learn from their counterparts. It is a couple of teenagers who started flipping through random books and then found themselves thoroughly immersed in those pages, and how people walked down the street carrying paper bags full of newly purchased books. It is precious things like these that made the inaugural Dandenong Ranges Literary Festival a huge success, inspiring a sense of place in our hearts as a community united in arts and creativity, and instilling a sense of achievement among festival organisers and volunteers that we really did it.
More importantly, it gives us a sense of confidence, courage and commitment as supporters of literature, reading and writing so that we can do it again.
