Tathra Youth Festival heralded a success

Bega Valley Shire Council youth resilience officer and organiser of the event, Melanie Rowsell said the continuous requests and enthusiasm for the festival to turn into an annual event was proof of its success.

"So many people came up to me and said they wanted to see it happen again next year," she said.

The youth festival which ran from 11am to 5pm on Saturday September 16 featured a series of activities run by local youth organisations, local food stalls and the main event - the final round of Valley Vibes Music Competition.

Four bands and six solo artists, battled it out with their finest tunes at the Tathra Surf Club for the final round of the competition all morning and early afternoon until winners were revealed at 3pm.

Ms Rowsell said each band and solo artist that performed walked home with a prize that day, thanks to the festival's generous local sponsors.

"The community support has been amazing and the sponsorship has been out of this world, all the prizes were sponsored," she said.

Sponsors included Splat Sounds, Merimbula School of Music, Magpie Music, Magic Mountain, Top Fun, The Picture Show Man and the Tathra Lions Club.

Ms Rowsell said she was also thankful to the numerous local youth organisations that got involved on the day.

From PCYC's laser tag, to interactive circus workshops, art workshops, free henna, temporary tattoos as well as sporting activities, such as pickle ball and a frisbee competition.

Tathra Lions Club also provided a free sausage sizzle and drinks for the young people.

Ms Rowsell said she had been delighted to see the turnout on the day and the community's response to the festival.

"It was really well received, there was a constant arrival of young people from 11am to 4pm and it was quite spread out over a large area," she said.

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Ms Rowsell said one of her highlights of the day had been seeing the the young artists perform at the surf club.

"I had a few chats with some of the artists before they performed and there was a lot of nerves, but also a lot of excitement,"she said.

Ms Rowsell said it had been a "privilege" for her to support the up and coming artists involved in the Valley Vibes Music Competition.

"I'm really proud of all these young people, it's been an honour to work with them," she said.

Ms Rowsell said she was grateful to have hosted the event at Tathra, which she described as the perfect location for the event.

"I think Tathra is such a great meeting spot, all the events I've seen hosted here do really well and the location is just fantastic," she said.

Ms Rowsell said having the event by the seaside had been a major draw card for the hot conditions on the weekend as well.

"It was a really beautiful day, it was really hot too so it was good that it was so spread out otherwise it would have been challenging to have everyone close together," she said.

"The ocean was also right there for people to swim in and it meant that beach-goers could enjoy the music coming out of the surf club too."

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