Above: Nathan and Kyle Stewart, front, and back, Matthew, Cindi and Miranda Stewart and Rose Munday enjoy their day out at the Coastal Villages Festival.
By Sarah Schwager
THE Easter school holidays were launched with death-defying skydivers, plenty of sun and fun for all at the Coastal Villages Festival.
Families from the small coastal towns and beyond turned out at the Warneet Recreation Reserve on Sunday, 1 April for a spectacular and, for the first time, wind-free community festival.
Organiser Marilyn Elso said about 600 people turned out on the day, and while the number was considerably less than previous years, it had been a successful event.
“We completely sold out of food, so that’s the important thing,” she said.
Mrs Elso said the event, which included amusements, rides, face painting and displays, was an important date on the coastal villages’ calendar.
“There’s really not much around in this area for the local residents apart from school fetes and car boot sales,” Mrs Elso said.
The Tooradin and Coastal Villages Community Bank steering committee had a great day, launching their bid for a community Bendigo Bank and managing to sign up a number of people from around the area.
One of the bank’s initiatives, the community bus, was also available on the day to pick people up and transport them from one area to another.
Mrs Elso said a highlight was a fire demonstration by Warneet Fire Brigade with a blow-up house in which people could crawl through and learn how to be safe in a fire as it mimicked real smoke.
There were also displays by the City of Casey, emergency services, Coast Action, classic boat display at the Warneet Motor Yacht Club and the revegetation of mangroves in Western Port.
