More than 500 wines from across NSW and the ACT will be judged when the 34th NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show gets underway in Forbes later this month.

This year 511 entries from 95 wineries have been received, exceeding expectations ahead of judging, which starts on Monday, 24 August.

The show’s entries showcase wines from a broad range of wine regions throughout NSW and the ACT, providing judges with an extensive field of wines across multiple classes.

Returning as Chair of Judges is Mark Richardson, Senior Winemaker with Tyrrell’s Wines in the Hunter Valley, who will lead the judging panel throughout the three-day show.

Wine lovers will also have the opportunity to sample the entries during the annual Public Tasting at the Forbes Town Hall on Friday, 28 August from 6.30pm. Tickets are $40 per person which also includes finger food throughout the evening.

The NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show will conclude with the Gourmet Wine Dinner at Club Forbes on Saturday, 19 September, commencing at 7pm. Guests will enjoy a four-course menu matched with a selection of this year’s trophy winning wines. Tickets for the Gourmet Wine Dinner are available for $130 per person.

You can save $10 if you buy Public Tasting and Gourmet Wine Dinner tickets in one transaction. Tickets are available at www.123tix.com.au/events/53915/nswsmall-winemakers-wine-show.

For more information call 0418 237 051

Lions Park is set to come alive this weekend as the biennial River Arts Festival brings a full day of free family entertainment, music, and creative celebration to our community.

With an action-packed program designed for all ages, there is truly something for everyone to enjoy.

Festivities kick off at 9:00am with a vibrant performance by the town band right on Bates Bridge, alongside the opening of the festival markets. To make the most of the site, Bates Bridge will be closed to traffic all day, allowing visitors to safely explore the stalls and wander across to Wheogo Park, which has been transformed into a dedicated Wellbeing Space.

Throughout the entire day, the festival grounds will feature continuous live music and hands-on art activities. Families can pack a lunch or grab a bite from the local market stalls or food vendors, and join us for a giant community picnic at 12:00noon when The Hometown Boys take the stage.

The energy amps up at 3:00pm when popular local group Dirty Dark Horses takes the stage. At the same time, free lantern-making workshops begin with Phil Relf from Ikara Celebratory Events. Community members are invited to drop in and create something incredible to carry in the evening’s main event: the magical lantern parade at dusk. This year’s parade will showcase a brand-new goanna sculpture taking pride of place.

Gather your family, bring a picnic blanket, and celebrate the heart of our creative community this weekend!

Haylee Redfern has once again brought gold back to Forbes, after competing at the 2026 World Kettlebell Sport Federation (WKSF) World Championships at Chisinau in Moldova from 4 – 7 June.

Haylee competed in the Elite Long Cycle (2 x 20kg kettlebells, 10mins), Elite Mixed Relay, Elite Women’s Relay, Masters One Arm Long Cycle (1 x 16kg, 10mins) and the Masters OALC half Marathon (1 x 16kg, 30mins).

Out of the five events that Haylee competed in, she was incredibly fortunate to podium in each event, coming away with three gold medals, a silver and a bronze.

Haylee’s motto is, “Be prepared to put in the extra work even when it’s not required.”

Unfortunately, there is no government or funding support for Individual adults in sport, whereas for team sports, like soccer or rugby etc, the opportunities are endless.

Haylee has to self-fund all of her travel and sporting requirements.

“Absolutely everything is self funded and that includes both in Australia and abroad. There is a lot of travel involved as there are requirements we have to meet each year to gain re-qualification for the Australian Team,” said Haylee.

Haylee has a few events coming up that are a requirement to make the Australian Team for 2027. State of Origin in August and the Australian Nationals in September. She is also hoping to represent Australia once again at the IUKL World Championships in October to be held in New Delhi, India.

Interested sponsors can contact Haylee directly via hayleeredfern@hotmail.com.

Parkes Shire Council has installed a speed monitor trailer in Caswell Street in Peak Hill to help prompt drivers to watch their speed and keep to the limit.

The speed monitor trailer contains a radar device to check the speed of passing traffic and research shows that they have a large impact in not just reducing the speed at which people travel but also increasing the driver’s awareness of their vehicle’s travel speed.

Parkes Shire Council’s Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, assures drivers that the speed checks are a courtesy only and emphasised the importance of the speed monitor trailer in reminding drivers of the posted speed limit and prompting them to adjust their speed if necessary.

“We want motorists to realise that their speeding is part of a much bigger problem.

Every vehicle travelling over the posted speed limit poses a risk to other road users – especially the vulnerable such as child and aged pedestrians.

“Research indicates that reducing speed, even by just a few kilometres, makes a big difference to the outcome of crashes. If hit by a vehicle travelling at 60 km/h a pedestrian has a 15% chance of survival, this increases to 55% if the vehicle is travelling at the slower speed of 50km/h and 80% if the vehicle is travelling at 40km/h.

The speed monitor trailers will be in use for the next month in conjunction with regular Police enforcement.

One Step Max recently walked through both Parkes and Forbes on his 700,000km journey – Walk to Save a Life. Max set out on his personal journey during Mental Health Month in October 2025, where he completed his first big walk from Albury to Adelaide.

This year Max has walked from Goondiwindi to Moree, and then on to Inverell, Bingara, Narabri, Gunnedah and Tamworth.

He then skipped to Coonabarabran and walked south again along the Newell.

Max set out to walk 700,000km, which represents each life lost to suicide worldwide each year. “For a long time I had thoughts of not being here anymore. I think in life if we take one step forward, it doesn’t matter how many steps we take backwards, as long as we keep moving forward every now and again,” said Max.

Max first arrived in Parkes, staying for about a week at various places, where accommodation was kindly offered by locals.

He even got a haircut whilst in Parkes, and had dinner with the ladies from the Visitor Information Centre on his last evening before embarking on his journey to Forbes.

Arriving in Forbes after enjoying a brief homestay and camping along the way, Max took the time to meet lots of locals and visit as many places as he could, saying “Forbes is a beautiful town, full of people doing amazing things for the community.” You can follow along with Max’s journey on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Onestep-Max/61576680990763

Parkes Shire Council is excited to announce the recipients of Round 1 of the Events Fi­nancial Assistance Program (EFAP) for 2026. The round was popular with seven applicants requesting over $45,000 in sup­port. Council has allocated $39,250 in fund­ing to various community events throughout the shire.

The EFAP is designed to support both new and existing events that contribute positively to the Parkes community while striving for event sustainability. The fund­ing, which includes cash and in-kind sup­port such as facility use and equipment, will enhance various local and regional events.

Alan Flavel and David Lewis of the Tul­lamore Bowling & Citizens Club thanked Parkes Shire Council for the funding for their inaugural long lunch on the 10th of Oc­tober. “It really means a lot to the club. We were really struggling for a couple of years, but a lot of volunteering and work has gone in to get the club back up to where it was.

We will host the inaugural long lunch with this grant and make it a yearly event and build and build until it becomes well known in the shire.”

The next round of the Events Financial Assistance Program will open for applica­tions in October 2026 for events to be held in the first half of 2027. Details for the next round and application forms can be found on Parkes Shire Council’s website: htt­ps://www.parkes.nsw.gov.au/Community/Grants-and-funding/Councils-Grants-Pro­grams

The Parliament of NSW Regional Road­show was in Cowra on Wednesday, 17 June, bringing together students from across the region to engage with the demo­cratic process.

Now in their third year, the Regional Roadshows are an initiative of the NSW Legislative Council designed to give young people meaningful opportunities to engage with the democratic process, share their perspectives and connect directly with Members of Parliament.

Regional centres host Roadshows throughout the year, with years 10 to 12 students travelling from surrounding areas to participate in a Public Speaking Compe­tition and Youth Forum.

Over 60 student leaders from across the Central West, the Riverina and the wider region participated in the forum. The event allowed student leaders to speak directly to Members of Parliament and other sen­ior figures on issues that matter to them such as: cost of living and financial stress, employment opportunities and future path­ways, cost and accessibility of university or TAFE, housing affordability, mental health and wellbeing.

The Youth Forums gave young people the opportunity to discuss issues of impor­tance to them, exchange ideas and con­tribute to conversations about their com­munities and their future, while the Public Speaking Competition provided students with a platform to showcase their commu­nication skills and confidence.

Winners from each Public Speaking Competition round will be invited to com­pete in the State Final, to be held in the Legislative Chamber at Parliament House in December.

A cross-cultural creative dialogue is emerg­ing between Sean James Cassidy, Parkesbased artist and director of UB UBBO EX­CHANGE, and Toby Finlayson, Forbes-born co-founder and CEO of Desert Pea Media (DPM), grounded in a shared belief that sto­rytelling can strengthen identity, preserve culture, and create pathways for healing within communities.

Finlayson is widely respected throughout the Central West for his long-standing com­mitment to preserving First Nations culture through music, film, and digital storytelling.

Cassidy’s Ub Ubbo Exchange has built a strong reputation for supporting emerging artists and musicians, creating pathways for regional creatives to connect with estab­lished national and international talent.

The pair recently travelled together to the Philippines for a cultural exchange, recon­necting creatively for the first time since collaborating there in 2012 on a music and arts project. During the visit, Cassidy and Finlayson met with First Nations tribal com­munities to explore opportunities for future cultural exchange programs and communi­ty-engaged arts initiatives throughout Asia and the South Pacific.

Now, the collaboration is moving into a new phase. Cassidy and Finlayson are currently developing a pilot video project designed to spark broader conversations around preserving culture through arts and music engagement. The project ties into internationally recognised cultural celebra­tions including International Mother Lan­guage Day on February 21 and Australia–Philippines Friendship Day on May 22.

For Cassidy and Finlayson, they describe the process as a “yarn” — an ongoing con­versation shaped by trust, deep listening, and mutual respect.

Federal Member for Parkes Jamie Chaffey has congratulated Juley Clarke, of Forbes and Michael Lynch, of Parkes who have been named in the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours list.

Juley Clarke, of Forbes, has been recog­nised with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to primary education.

Mrs Clarke has been a teacher since 1988 and is the founder of the Forbes North Wiradjuri Choir, as well as the chief steward of the Forbes School Artwork Show Society.

Initially Juley was shocked to hear she had been nominated, “I received an email back in March stating that I had been nomi­nated for an Order of Australia Medal. My first thought was ‘Yeah Sure’, I truly thought it was a scam.” But then she finally heard back stating she was successful. “That was when I finally realised this was actually real. I was in total shock,” Julie said.

Michael Lynch, of Parkes, has also been recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community of Parkes.

Mr Lynch has been an important part of the St Vincent de Paul Society, the Diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes, the Parkes Prostate Cancer Support Group and the Parkes Vet­erans Golf Club. He was Parkes’ Citizen of the Year in 2021 and is a life member of the St Vincent de Paul Society.

In Michael’s own humble words, when he heard the news he felt “Undeserving, chuffed, honoured and blessed.”