After a five-year break, the beloved River Arts Festival is set to bring a wave of creativity back to Forbes on Saturday, August 10th, 2024, at Lions Park from 9am-7pm. Festival Director Rob Shannon and the committee are thrilled to once again celebrate the town’s artistic spirit and foster a sense of community through the power of art.

This year’s Festival has been given the name “Ripple”. Held on the shores of Lake Forbes, we want to send ripples of creativity and positivity out to the community through the arts. It is a chance for everyone to get involved in workshops, from the community mural with Sheree Stokes, The River Arts Community Choir with Nerida Cuddy or lantern making with Ro Burns for the Lantern Parade in the evening.

There will be a healing space featuring yoga, meditation, sound healing and more.

Wander through the extensive artisan stalls from all over the region.

We are featuring some amazing music this year, and are very excited to be hosting “Lolo Lovina” from Sydney, lead by RomaniGypsy vocalist Sarah Bedak, and featuring musicians from all over the world, Serbia, Ukraine, Malta and Bulgaria. They have performed all over the globe from Havana to Texas, China, western Europe and all over Australia. They will be towing their caravan (stage) into town especially for the day.

Also performing will be the high energy rockabilly trio “Felix Albert and the Gentlemanly Two” (Bathurst), modern folk song writer, singer and guitarist Nerida Cuddy (Canowindra), plus a whole heap of local performers from diverse backgrounds.

The day will culminate in the dreamy and inspiring lantern parade and Lolo Lovina taking us on a wild ride of passionate gypsy world music to close the night.

We look forward to this being something the whole community can enjoy.

For the past two years, the team at Kerin Health have been dreaming, planning and finally building a brand new state of the art clinical facility. It is the first of its kind in the whole of New South Wales and you are invited to help celebrate its grand opening on Friday 17th May from 5:00pm at 28 Armstrong Street, Parkes.

Rachel Kerin, Director and Physiotherapist said, “This facility increases our service capacity – meaning we can treat more clients, support more families, and bring more specialised clinicians to the local area.”

Head along, as Kerin Health showcase their wide range of services, and how they can support you and your family. It will be a night of celebration, including goodie bags, live music, nibbles, a raffle, and a whole lot of free resources.

Parents, carers and grandparents are invited to attend one of two free online workshops being held to provide important safety information about child car seats.

The workshops are being conducted by Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils in partnership with Transport for NSW West Region.

The workshops will be held via MS Teams, on Tuesday 7 May at 11am and again at 7pm, and will run for about an hour.

The Councils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, said the correct selection, installation and adjustment of child car seats is vital in ensuring children’s safety when travelling in vehicles.

“The workshop will cover the National Child Restraint Laws, types of child car seats available, correct installation and adjustment, when to move to the next car seat, accessories, tips for second-hand car seats and much more.

“It will be a great refresher for grandparents, as child car seats and the rules have changed a lot since they had their children, but also for parents and carers as they are navigating their way through their child or children’s growth.

“The results of our local checking day events show that around 80% of the child car seats that were checked were incorrectly installed. Transport for NSW research shows that children who are not restrained correctly are seven times more likely to sustain life-threatening injuries in a crash than those who are properly secured. It is so important to ensure your precious cargo is safe” Ms Suitor said.

The online workshops were the first of their kind in NSW when they were trialed in May 2023 and were held again in November 2023.

To book your place, visit the event listing on the Councils’ Facebook pages, use this link: https://bit.ly/WorkshopRegoMay24 or call Ms Suitor on (02) 6861 2364.

The Holy Family Parish hosted a “Spirituality in the Pub’ evening on Monday, 8th of April with two vibrant and inspiring speakers, Leanne Rogers, and Daniel Wright. The event was in the function room at the Coachman Hotel, and many of the audience stayed on for dinner and a chat.

The topic, ‘A Passion for a Healthy Community’, was appropriate to their own lived experiences. Dan has been a paramedic in Parkes (NSW Ambulance Service) for the past 15 years. Dan lost his son Luke to suicide in 2019 and the grief and trauma suffered by his family prompted Dan to work towards preventing these tragedies in our community.

Dan lobbied for Parkes to be chosen as the first regional site for a Safe

Haven site in NSW. He also co-designed the concept of the site which is on the ground floor, Suite 3, 195-199 Clarinda Street. It is a place for people to go if they are feeling distressed or having suicidal thoughts.

People can talk openly about how they are feeling and what they are going through, and they will be supported, not judged.

Leanne grew up in Parkes and by age 18 was in Adelaide studying to become a nurse. After graduating and completing Intensive Care qualifications, she went back to a rural setting where she had opportunities to take on leadership roles and education positions. This included teaching medical students at Flinders Uni rural clinical school with an emphasis on quality, safety and patient focussed care, teaching through realistic healthcare simulation.

As a community we must have concern about each other. Every person’s story matters and a little bit of kindness goes a long way. Is your group, service club, organisation interested in supporting these amazing centres which are fostering community connections and adding new dimensions to the provision of mental health in Parkes?

If so, visit Safe Haven, talk to people like Daniel and Leanne to find out more contact Lynn Rogers, lynnandwayne@bigpond.com.

In an energetic display of glitz and dance, Bjorn Again will bring the stage to life playing all the much loved ABBA hits, as part of the 2024 Canowindra International Balloon Festival.

2024 marks fifty years since ABBA first burst onto the music scene with their Eurovision winning song, ‘Waterloo’. Their music and style changed the landscape of the music industry, and their impact still permeates today, with audiences young and old enjoying the vibe of the show.

Roundbox Events Director, Debra Clarke, said, “It is such a pleasure to be able to bring this renowned international performance to the Canowindra region. Bjorn Again’s show is spectacular, and for them to be here performing is a real coup. Whether you are an ABBA die hard fan or simply enjoy a great show, we truly believe this brings an additional layer of entertainment to the Balloon Festival we haven’t seen before and we hope the greater community gets behind it.”

Tickets are available at:

www.123tix.com.au,

Canowindra Services Club (cash only),

Balloon HQ at Canowindra Phoenix Office, 84 Gaskill Street, Canowindra

At the gate on the day (card only).