By Kath Gannaway
Zip-lining, high rope climbing, nest swings and how to deal with a snakebite, were just a small sample of what this year’s Ecotopia Earth Festival was offering to entice festival-goers to become nature tourists in their own backyard.
The festival, the sixth organised by Yarra Valley ECOSS, was held at the Yarra Junction Parklands on Sunday, 26 March.
The activities were part of a smorgasbord of amazing nature tourism activities available in the Yarra Valley.
ECOSS event manager Chelsea McNab said the festival attracted more than 3500 people and had a strong nature-tourism theme that encouraged people to see the forests as an asset where they could be included in nature.
Pressed for some highlights, Ms McNab said the high quality of the activities, from the music and workshops to the market stalls and demonstrations, ensured the whole day was a quality experience.
“People put a lot of effort into creating really high quality events and activities across the whole program,” she said.
She said the Recycled Fashion Parade had become an event within the event and as in past years was hugely popular and great fun.
Demonstrations by Lincoln Seppings from humblehighbalance, one of the world’s best rock balancing artists, was another stand-out performance.
Ms McNab said another measure of the success of the event was the scant amount of rubbish taken home at the end of the day – two wheelie bins one containing recyclables, one part-filled for land fill and cardboard that will go into the ECOSS compost.
She said the festival was a true community festival and thanked Yarra Ranges Council, Warburton and Yarra Junction (Bendigo) Community Banks, CIRE Services, Ben’s Shed and the Upper Yarra Museum for their support and involvement.
