By Steph and Leigh Born
Tanglewood Festival is set to return to Thornton this summer for New Year’s Eve after receiving state planning approval from DEWLP in October 2022. Attracting around 3,000 music and arts lovers to the local area, it brings nearly half a million dollars into local businesses in the community.
The annual family-friendly, boutique music and arts festival provides entertainment for the local community and the broader Goulburn Valley and Eildon communities. Tanglewood Festival has built a reputation for being a safe, family-orientated summer festival that draws visitors from Melbourne, interstate and globally. A wide range of ages and tastes are catered for with different music styles, art displays, markets, a children’s space, cultural and creative workshops, and seminars.
Focused on supporting Thornton contractors, regional hospitality, local produce and accommodation businesses, the festival is proud of the partnership it has forged with the local community across the Murrindindi Shire. The festival showcases a mix of local, up-and-coming and established musicians and artists in a natural, safe, rural setting that is respectful of the Thornton community and nearby agricultural properties.
During the festival, an emergency management centre is staffed 24 hours a day with an emergency manager and communications officer. Tanglewood employs its own medical team, with doctors, ambulance, and a fire management team, as well as maintaining a fire truck and fire suppression vehicles. Security is provided across the full perimeter and there is a substantial group of security teams, overseen by safety and area wardens and a site operations manager to ensure no strain on local resources.
As organisers, we have also volunteered our time and passion because we believe events like the Tanglewood Festival bring much needed stimulus for the arts and rural communities of Thornton and the Goulburn Valley. COVID-19 has taken a wrecking ball to the arts and live music world, so we are excited that now the pandemic has eased, we can return to Thornton each new year, bringing some of the best music and culture to this beautiful hinterland.
We have worked hard to build an annual, professional event and look forward to the positive support of the community, local council, and authorities to allow us to continue to build a family-friendly cultural event that celebrates the best of Thornton and the broader Goulburn Valley community.
Applications for musicians, roving performers, art gallery, food and market stalls are now open! Please visit www.tanglewoodfestival.com.au
We want to hear from you! We welcome community participation, any residents wishing to contribute, share ideas, get involved, have a local business, or want to discuss any elements of the event should contact us: info@tanglewoodfestival.com.au
