Festival like a well-oiled machine

In its fifth year, Forest Lake’s Community Festival is a well-oiled machine and highly anticipated by locals.
The festival’s founder and president of the Forest Lake Community Events Association, Kylie Gates, said delivering a free event for all ages to enjoy was the festival’s biggest achievement.
“It’s all about supporting local businesses and offering our community as much as we can that is affordable,” she said.
“We love our community, we’re all volunteers who fund the festival, and to be able to bring this together so people don’t have to spend a fortune is one big benefit.
“We can offer a free event for our community with the support of our local businesses and sponsors that help us out.”
A small but dedicated group of volunteers runs and coordinates festival responsibilities, ensuring that the festivities run smoothly and accommodate the large crowds expected to attend.
“We are a group of four volunteers only, so myself, Haley, Lianne, and Jason, and they’ve only come on board in the last two years,” Ms Gates said.
“I did the first two years myself. They’re a great support, I couldn’t do it without them again.
“We can get up to 10,000 people at the festival, so it is huge.”
Market stalls held by local small businesses, artisans, and community groups will be open for trading. A variety of food trucks will also be available to choose from on festival grounds.
Live performances will continue through the day, with a fireworks show at 8pm.
“I would say maybe 60% are recurring people that want to come back because the event is so good for them, financially and also because they love the community,” Ms Gates said.
“We give community group stall holders a free site, so if there are any further community groups that want to come forward, that’s definitely welcome.
“Everyone’s crying out for when the next one is, and we could do five of these a year and people would still come to them.”
Activities like face painting, petting farm animals, carnival rides, live performance,s and the fireworks show are all free to participate in. Heritage Bank’s Forest Lake branch is the event’s main sponsor this year.
“You don’t even have to open your wallet at the event; you can bring your own picnics and just enjoy the day,” Ms Gates said.
“The end of the night is a highlight. We always have a band at the main stage, where you see kids dancing on the front area and everyone else clapping along and enjoying the vibe.”
The festival will be from 2pm-8pm Saturday 13 September at the Lake Parklands.