THE quiet hamlet of Barham came alive on Saturday as it hosted the annual RiverDaze food, wine and music festival at Riverside Park.
The sold-out event drew more than 1700 people, including 300 children.
Six acts graced the stage with singer Shannon Noll finishing the night.
Boort singer-guitarist Elias Lanyon kicked off the music with his acoustic selection and said he really enjoyed performing on such a perfect day.
“It’s a very nice venue on the river and it was great fun and it is pretty awesome and a privilege to be on the same stage as some really great acts,” Mr Lanyon said.
Event coordinator Faye O’Brien said the festival had begun building momentum again, and this was the second event since the pandemic hiatus.
“We are starting to see a resurgence,” said Ms O’Brien.
“People come from as far away as Melbourne and we also have significant local support from a Swan Hill and Echuca following.
“We designed this event to become an economic driver in our community.
“One, we wanted to show case where we live and two, we wanted to draw visitors to the area to drive some tourism.
“The caravan park is fully booked, even the unpowered sites, and people are booking for two nights and not just one.”
Planning for each event starts not long after the previous one ends with the musical acts for the following year locked in first.
There is a strong effort to have music that will appeal to a wide range of tastes.
This year that included ABBA Gold, the Flaming Sambucas, INXSIVE and children’s show Animals of the Magic Mountains.
Melbourne tribute band INXSIVE was a big hit with the crowd as front man, David Graham, bought to life the hits of INXS in an energy-fuelled show set against the backdrop of a Murray River sunset.
The crowd was primed and ready for the main event and went wild as Nollsie took to the stage.
Performing many of his own songs he also included some popular numbers from Dragon and Creedence Clearwater Revival and even Once a Jolly Swagman, in his own unique style.
Shannon Noll told the Gannawarra Times he believed that coming from a small town himself, he was aware how important it was for events such as Riverdaze to be a success.
“It is a great outlet for people and they deserve to have the opportunity to get out and see someone that they support,” Nolls said.
“Without their support, I wouldn’t be where I am.
“The crowd was amazing, a great crowd. I think I need to take them on tour with me.”
His first time in Barham, he laughed that it wouldn’t take much to get him to move to the small town and regretted he wasn’t able to spend more time looking around.
