Vol. No. Vol. 2418No. 3427
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Wednesday, January 2016 Wednesday, March13, 9, 2022
DIRECTING TRAFFIC: Participants taking part in The Weekly Advertiser Horsham Fishing Competition on Sunday will find it hard to miss where to go and what to do during the Labour Day weekend event. Competition committee member Prue Beltz is pictured with some of the many signs going up along the Wimmera River to help angling parties make the most of a big weekend. The fishing contest is one of a variety of community events happening across the region. Contest founder reflects, see page 15. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER
Events hook for region BY MICHAEL SCALZO
A
n annual fishing competition will headline a bumper Labour Day long-weekend in Horsham and western Victoria as COVID-19 restrictions ease and outdoor events again take centre stage.
Thousands of eager anglers and families will gather on the banks of the Wimmera River on Sunday for Horsham Fishing Competition. Competitors, in the event’s 45th year of competition, will whip out a rod along the riverbank to land redfin, yellowbelly, catfish and silver perch species. A new car remains the traditional treasured top-prize. Horsham mayor Robyn Gulline said it was amazing to see so many events return to the region as COVID-19 restrictions receded. “These great activities for residents and visitors attract lots of people into our city and region,” she said. “It has been so difficult for everyone to be
social recently. So now as these social events and interactions return to ‘normal’, it is just terrific for everyone. “The fishing competition is absolutely great; the amazing prizes are such a great incentive to get families and anglers into Horsham for the weekend. “I certainly commend the organising committee’s work in this space.” The Weekly Advertiser Horsham Fishing Competition is one of several high-profile events attracting Victorian and interstate visitors to western Victoria for the Labour Day break. Stawell Harness Racing Club ‘Back to the 80s’ concert at Laidlaw Park, Stawell, is booked out to its maximum 1000 patrons on Saturday. It is a free event featuring iconic ’80s music artists, including Brian Mannix, Uncanny Xmen, Sean Kelly, Models, Eurogliders, Scott Carne, Kids in the Kitchen, Ally Fowler, Chantoozies and compere Gavin Wood from television show Countdown. Pitch Music and Arts festival will also welcome more than 15,000
dance-music lovers to a property on Grampians plains near Moyston. The four-day event, well known for its popular Australian and international electronic music artists, has become an annual pilgrimage for those in the techno, house, disco and psytrance music scenes.
Diversity
For those after some two and fourstroke excitement, Horsham Motorcycle Club will also be hosting the 2022 Motocross Amateurs across the weekend. It features a two-day motocross racing event, for junior and senior, Victorian and interstate amateur riders, at Horsham motocross track at Dooen Recreational Reserve. Cr Gulline said she hoped the influx of people would showcase the region and entice visitors to consider permanent career and lifestyle opportunities available. “Some of our research shows people need to visit a region multiple times before they might consider a decision
to relocate,” she said. “So, with so many events attracting visitors, they really get a glimpse of what the area has to offer. Hopefully they love it so much, the Wimmera becomes their tree change.” Fishing competition committee treasurer Prue Dellar said the event received a ‘big uptick’ in registrations during the past week. She said positive community and angler feedback continued to emphasise benefits of the event’s focus on ‘serious’ anglers as well as families. “The feedback from our surveys was people really enjoyed the opportunity the event gave them to get together with family and friends,” she said. “The competition has a strong and important social element to it. It is something I know people have in their calendar marked as annual catch-up occasion. “They also tell us the event is a lot of fun. We really do try and balance the needs of the social anglers with the competitive anglers, because it takes
both to make this event what it is.” Winning anglers will land the longest fish in each of the three fish categories; yellowbelly, catfish, as well as silver perch and redfin, to be judged a single category. Anglers will then submit a verifying photograph of the catch against a measuring device to competition headquarters. The competition follows a catch-and-release protocol. The event went ahead in 2021 with a 1000-person capped attendance, but organisers are confident this year’s event will again attract thousands of Victorian and interstate anglers, as it did before COVID-19 interruptions. Competition committee president Bruce McInnes said he was glad the committee had pushed through the COVID-19 disruptions and committed to hosting the event in 2022. “Early March has seemed to be the sweet spot for events during most of the pandemic, so it is great we didn’t consider cancelling,” he said. Continued page 3
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