Woombye locals save the date! Planning and preparations for the Woombye Happy Days festival are being finalised for May 5, and it is shaping up to be a day of fun for people of all ages.

The WCBA, in conjunction with Bendigo Bank Woombye, is staging the local street festival, a community get-together aimed at celebrating our people and fabulous community spirit. We also want to promote Woombye and our wonderful  businesses and imbue a sense of pride in the town and its history. 

The 1950s-60s themed Happy Days festival on 5 May is the jewel in the WCBAs’ events crown.

The Festival begins on Saturday night (May 4) at the Woombye Pub with a 1950s themed cabaret event starring Michael Healy. “This will set the mood for Sunday and give good reason for people to come to the Woombye area and stay a night or two,” said WCBA president Milo Frawley.  

On Sunday (May 5) the festival begins in earnest, kicking off at 10am with Hill Street closed from Blackall to Campbell Street. A stage will cross the road beside the School of Arts and face north. 

“We’ll have live music  on the stage from 10am-6pm intermittently broken by fun competitions, prize-giving, kids performances, and our wonderful emcee Howard Riach.”

Elsewhere, there will be market stalls, classic cars on display, the Bowls Club Diner with a gallery of artwork from local primary schools, a petting zoo, jumping castle, an outdoor bar, dancing classes, food trucks and more.

At 6pm the outdoor activities come to a close and a ticketed rock ‘n roll dance begins in the main hall. 

Come in your best 50s threads and enjoy live music by the RocknRollaBillys band.

“This will be the biggest 30 hours Woombye sees all year,” said Milo. “But to pull this off WCBA has called on a lot of support from so many wonderful people and businesses. We still need volunteers, we need ideas, and we need financial support from our local businesses. Bendigo Bank Woombye is our major sponsor, but we need all the help we can muster.

“We would love as many people as possible to join us and get into the spirit of things.”

Get involved

• To get involved with Woombye Happy Days, volunteer or connect with the association in other ways, email: woombyecommunity@gmail.com  WCBA meets on the fourth Thursday of the month from 6-7pm.