ORGANISERS of Moyston\u2019s fifth annual Pitch Festival are pleading with Ararat businesses to remain open throughout next month\u2019s music event.<\/p>\n
More than 15,000 people will swamp the region from March 11 to 15 and are expected to inject $6 million into the local economy.<\/p>\n
Tickets for the festival sold out within minutes of going on sale.<\/p>\n
The festival coincides with the Labour Day long weekend and in previous years, many Ararat businesses have closed their doors.<\/p>\n
Festival director Filippo Palermo believes the $6 million figure could easily be bolstered if businesses stayed open to cater for festival goers, the large majority coming from Melbourne and at least 20 percent from interstate.<\/p>\n
He said the festival had great potential for a flow on effect for the whole region.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe conducted an economic impact survey at the last Pitch in 2020 and it was north of six million dollars that was injected into the local community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s everything from people going to the local supermarket or bakery coming into the event, to getting accommodation before the festival and going to buy supplies in Ararat, and us working with community stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n
The festival also injects much needed funds into community groups in the Moyston area.<\/p>\n
Moyston residents Lydia and Ross Jackson coordinate key community stakeholders to operate a barbecue at the festival each year.<\/p>\n
Over the past four years more than $120,000 has been distributed to the Moyston-Willaura Football Netball Club, Moyston CFA, and Willaura and Moyston primary schools.<\/p>\n
Mrs Jackson said each group was given a cut of profits from the barbecue, depending on how many volunteer hours were put in over the festival weekend.<\/p>\n
She said money from the festival was \u201cpretty major\u201d and helped take the pressure off locals who were continually hit up for donations.<\/p>\n
About $26,000 was distributed between the volunteer groups at the last festival.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoyston Primary School got seven or eight thousand dollars from the last festival, and that would\u2019ve taken the school community years to raise,\u201d Mrs Jackson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe school did a pie drive and it raised seven hundred dollars, which was fabulous, but we\u2019re asking the same families for money each time we run a fundraiser. This way it\u2019s outside money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs Jackson fears most Ararat businesses don\u2019t realise the benefits the Pitch Festival brings to the community and is adding her support to Mr Palermo\u2019s calls for businesses to stay open over the festival weekend.<\/p>\n
Mr Palermo said festival goers traditionally supported Ararat businesses and he is asking businesses to return the favour.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are recommending small businesses capitalise on the opportunity and stay open,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can guarantee as they\u2019re leaving, people will stop in Ararat to fill up with petrol and get something to eat before the long drive home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very important to us that we make an economic impact on the local area.\u201d<\/p>\n
This will be the largest crowd in the festival\u2019s five-year history, and most will camp onsite.<\/p>\n
The festival has been hit hard by COVID restrictions which forced the cancellation of last year\u2019s event but has also resulted in staff shortages.<\/p>\n
Mr Palermo said many people had left the industry during COVID because \u201cthere\u2019s only so long you can wait for events to return\u201d.<\/p>\n
Organisers are hoping to find staff from the Ararat area to work on the gates and in the bar at this year\u2019s festival.<\/p>\n
Anyone interested can contact the organisers through their website pitchfestival.com.au<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ORGANISERS of Moyston\u2019s fifth annual Pitch Festival are pleading with Ararat businesses to remain open throughout next month\u2019s music event. More than 15,000 people will swamp the region from March 11 to 15 and are expected to inject $6 million into the local economy. Tickets for the festival sold out within minutes of going on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[31],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/pitch.jpg?fit=1920%2C1272&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdqUu4-aI","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}