An entirely free, all ages event, the festival draws top musicians locally and from afar to perform.
Festival chair Laurelin Berick was shocked to hear the event called out as the award winner.
“We were so thrilled to have found out that we were nominated, we had no clue at all,” she said.
“There are 11 of us here tonight who have come to dinner, we never do things like that.
“We all paid for our own tickets because we don’t want to take from the festival that is meant to deliver to do the community.
“We were only here because we were nominated, we were just so proud of that.”
Ms Berick was chuffed to accept the honour, which she believes the festival encapsulates.
“Never in our wildest dreams had we have thought that we’d come away as the winner of the community award,” she said.
“It’s the exact thing we do, that’s the coolest part.”
With the event going into its 25th year, Ms Berick feels that the committee has worked hard to align the festival with the community.
“We’ve really focused in the last two years on having quite an aligned vision,” she said.
“We’re focusing on the things we’re really good at, which is delivering an amazing festival of blues artists to the Echuca-Moama community to benefit the community.”
COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD
Sponsored by Echuca Regional Health
- Brady Electrical Contracting
- Moama Bakery
- Winter Blues Festival
