UPCOMING and established Australian comedians graced the stage at The Big Cohuna Stockyard Café on Saturday night for the Cohuna Comedy Gala.
Kirsty Webeck headlined the gala, supported by Matt Stewart, Dave Waneke and Urvi Majumdar, to bring acts seen at galas around the country, on well-known television programs and on podcasts to Cohuna.
Northern District Community Health youth programs coordinator Matt Allen said the event aimed to diversify the entertainment available in the region.
“Being able to bring really high-quality entertainment to regional areas is really important,” he said.
“I’m always looking for opportunities to bring anything a little different here, whether that’s comedy, music or art workshops, so we can meet everyone’s interests and our young people can find something for them.
“It was a great community event with a good turnout for everyone to have a laugh and get together with friends and family.”
NDCH also got young people involved in the production of the event, with one person operating the lights and another taking on the Acknowledgement of Country.
“The young person on sound and lighting had never done that before and I gave her a little crash course in them before the show,” Mr Allen said.
“She might never do it again but she learned something new and has the basics now.
“The 10-year-old from Cohuna did a fantastic job with the Acknowledgement of Country even though she had never done public speaking before.
“Encouraging local young people to get involved in our events is key to making them happen and why we do them.”
Mr Allen said the support for the Cohuna Comedy Gala encouraged NDCH to look forward to putting on more similar events in the future.
“Nothing is decided yet but we’re talking about bringing it to Kerang or having a couple of shows over a weekend with a gala night,” he said.
“We’re keen to host more in 2025 and make the arts available at a local level because they should be in our region.”
Mr Allen extended thanks to the Gannawarra Shire Council for their support with flood recovery funding for making the event possible.
