The South Alphington & Fairfield Civic Association (SAFCA) in conjunction with its major partners Glenvill and Melbourne Water, and the City of Yarra, are pleased to announce that the 8th “Music From the Wetlands Festival” will be held on Sunday the 15th of November between 11:45am and 5:30pm at the Alphington Wetlands, 1 View St Alphington. Join the music march starting opposite the 7-Eleven which is located on the corner of Heidelberg Rd and Yarralea St at 11:45am.
If you are driving to the festival, View St will be closed to car traffic at the corner of View St and Lucerne Cres. From that corner, you can find the festival ground by continuing on foot down View Street.
MUSIC FROM THE WETLANDS - SAFCA nurtures Alphington’s wetland environment and every second year, they invite you to enjoy a free music festival that nurtures your soul. The festival offers a variety of musical entertainment together with stalls and displays from more than a dozen community and environment groups. There will be activities for families and children of all ages at this year’s festival, with the opportunity to participate in circus skills with professional circus trainers; make adornments with nature to wear or to hang with local artist Avis Gardner; write and illustrate your own digital and real books with the Kids’ Own Publishing; and try your hand at arts and crafts.
Before European settlement, this area was the home of the Wurundjeri-willam people. The floodplain adjacent to the Yarra River was extensively cleared for farming and little of the original bush remains. But, the local community rallied together to replant many of the trees, shrubs and grasses which are indigenous to the area. The Alphington Wetlands is located on the flood plain of the Yarra River at the southern end of Alphington Park and is a collaborative project involving the South Alphington and Fairfield Civic Association (SAFCA) Inc, City of Yarra, Kate Herd of 1 View Street, and local residents.
SAFCA was established in 1997 and has been active for many years in projects to improve the wetlands and their surrounds. This has included increasing the size of the permanent water bodies, improving drainage onto the site, removal of weeds and non-indigenous plants. Since the project began, hundreds of local volunteers have been involved in planting thousands of trees, shrubs, ground covers and grasses. The area is now home to over 40 bird species including rainbow lorikeets, sacred ibis, the great egret and many water birds.
In addition to a wonderful line up of professional and community performers, this year SAFCA are delighted to again be involved with Scarlet’s Fund – established in memory of Scarlet Spain, a musician, singer, writer and traveler and a passionate believer in social justice . In 2012 Scarlet died as the result of an accident just before her 21st birthday. www.scarletsfund.com.
The Alphington bowls club will be hosting a battle of the bands with local performers on 23rd October and 6th November. The winner of Scarlet’s Prize will perform on stage at Music from the Wetlands.
For more information please visit www.musicfromthewetlands.com.au .
