Benalla Rural City Council invited interested parties to attend a workshop looking for ideas and input into the 2024 Benalla Street Art Festival.
Wall to Wall Benalla had been running since 2015, growing in popularity each year, to the point the Rose City gained the moniker of street art capital of regional Australia.
However, like many things, the COVID-19 pandemic helped cancel several festivals leading to a three-year hiatus.
The beauty of Benalla’s street art is, while it is designed to be temporary, there’s now five years worth of art adorning walls all over town.
To this day one can’t walk through Benalla’s avenues and laneways without seeing visitors snapping photos and commenting on how amazing it all looks.
In inviting people to the workshop a BRCC spokesperson said it recognised the economic and community benefits which Benalla street art brings and want to see it thrive again.
The purpose of this workshop was to:
- Update, inform and invite people to be part of a reinvigorated Benalla Street Art Project in 2024;
- Determine a common vision and how to create a sustainable model for the future; and
- Come together in a collaborative manner to acknowledge the successes and lessons learnt from past festivals and ideas to ensure the festival flourishes.
The workshop was hosted by Mary-Anne Scully who discussed ideas and facilitated several polls where participants could vote on what they wanted from the 2024 festival.
Benalla Rural City chief executive officer Dom Testoni said the workshop was a success.
“With 70 people attending last week’s workshop, it was fantastic to see the level of enthusiasm in the community around the future of Benalla’s street art,” Mr Testoni said.
“With such positive and passionate input there is now a clear message from the community that we should be celebrating and further expanding our street art offerings.
“Anyone unable to attend the workshop will be able to provide input through council’s Have Your Say online engagement portal.
“I look forward to seeing what a future Benalla street art event looks like after this productive community consultation process is completed.”
You can have your say on the 2024 Benalla Street Art Festival by visiting www.benalla.vic.gov.au/Your-Council/Have-Your-Say-Benalla