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Benalla yarn bombers plan best display to brighten up winter

Internationally renowned: Benalla yarn bombers Chris Dunster (left) and Joy Shirley (right) at the ‘Woolinate’ yarn bomb festival in Cologne with festival organisers Elke Hahn and Heike Unger. Photo by Contributed

The Benalla yarn bombers are in the process of planning the annual explosion of colour that has become a mainstay of the Rose City’s colder months.

Group member Joy Shirley has been involved since day one, and said this year the colourful decorations were due to go up on July 29.

“We are starting to plan and prepare for the installation,” Ms Shirley said.

“This year it will be up until September 3.

“We’ve got a number of new bollard covers and a lot of new beanies. We’ll have more than 70 bollard covers in total.

Returning: Many of the most popular yarn bomb characters will return in 2023, including Bluey. Photo by Simon Ruppert

“We will also have a display in the pet shop on Bridge St this year.

“In the past we’ve had a very small display in one of the florists, this year we will have a display in both (Blooms on Bridge and Sault & Bloom). We are working on those at the moment.”

Ms Shirley said the group would like to invite anyone in the community who was interested in knitting and crocheting to get involved.

“We will have a number of workshops where we can get together and work on things,” she said.

“We’ll be meeting most Tuesday afternoons to prepare materials for those workshops.“

Ms Shirley said most of the town’s favourite pieces would be back, including the Minions and Bluey.

“And we have a theme we’ve developed for some of the new bollards, which is around beaches, water and fish.

“We were quite impressed with a display we saw at the Cologne yarn bomb festival.

“So that has given us extra inspiration as to how to put together some of our scenes.”

If you are interested in taking part phone Joy Shirley on 0417 065 351, Annie Longmuir on 0407 554 416 or Chris Dunster on 0459 084 046.