Popular Sunbury StreetLife Festival cancelled, for now
A popular festival in northwest Melbourne has been cancelled despite passionate organisers fighting “tooth and nail” to keep it alive.
North West
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A popular Sunbury festival has been cancelled despite passionate organisers fighting “tooth and nail” to keep it alive.
The StreetLife Festival, established to showcase the work of local businesses, has lined O’Shanassy and Brook streets with about 100 market stalls, workshops and live entertainment for the past six years.
Along with the hugely popular SunFest, which attracts more than 30,000 people each March, StreetLife has been a marquee event on the town calendar.
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In a message posted to social media last week and widely shared, organisers announced the event would not go ahead in November so they could “have some time to plan, ponder, and hope that other like-minded volunteers” help them bring it back in 2020.
Co-founder Sharyn Snook said she and co-organiser Hannah Liddle were two of just four on this year’s committee, prompting calls for locals to step up and help out when the festival returns.
“I fought tooth and nail to even keep it going,” Ms Snook said.
“I love the event and there are a lot of people who tell me they love it too.”
Ms Snook hoped a break would help Sunbury people realise the value of local festivals such as StreetLife and that more would put their hands up ahead of 2020.
“The hope is … we can actually have a break, spend some time with our kids and have a few months to try and encourage people to see why this event is so important,” she said. “We didn’t want to not do it, however it’s been six years of begging for help.”
Sunbury Business Association president Michael Osborne urged residents to get behind the festival to support small businesses.
“Any event that connects the business community to the wider population is beneficial to the area,” he said.
“StreetLife has successfully done that over the last five to six years. We’re disappointed to see it cancelled but fully understand the thought behind it. The amount of time required to run these events is phenomenal.”
Mr Osborne called on people to put their hand up for the 2020 event.
“I’d love to see it come back and I call on people to assist the team to bring it back,” he said.