Festival for our Future

The young people involved in Festival for our Future are most concerned by lack of community understanding about the threats to the health of the Bellinger River.

We wanted them to understand their eco-footprint, threats to river health and actions to care for the river; visit the community garden, celebrate and strengthen community. The campaign is targeting youth and community in Bellinger Valley. They came to see local youth bands playing, youth-led eco-workshops and talks, and see the Northbank Community Garden (a great venue), and to support the young people who were taking the initiative. Posters were put up around town on various community notice boards, articles were published in the local newspaper, extensive promotion and sharing on social media, youth reports on local radio station. The group aimed to reach 50-100 people in their local community. They sort to increase their understanding of the threats to river health and to celebrate community and sustainability.

The first event in August 2014 exceeded all expectations, attracting more that 400 people to participate. Our biggest delight was to see so many people stepping in and offering to help to make the day a success. The Festival for our Future is being continued in 2015, bringing together local environmental organisations to run targeted sustainability programs 4-12 July.

The program aims to attract people to the Bellingen district, celebrate youth engagement and our beautiful environment and promote learning about ecologically sensitive living through direct experience. The program will follow on from the inaugural Bellingen Winter Music Festival.