Mellow in the Yellow organisers are looking forward to their sixth annual event being held this Saturday, attracting three hundred people who were quick enough to grab a ticket to one of the region’s most popular rural events.
The event is held by Live Rural, an entity based in Tatyoon, currently focused on raising funds to support Australian Farmers and promoting them in a positive light.
PHOTO: Mellow in the Yellow
On Saturday, 300 people will catch buses from across the region to attend the afternoon at a surprise canola field location. Tickets sold out a month before the event as its popularity continues to grow.
Mellow in the Yellow Committee Member, Peta Watson, has been helping to organise the event since it began and explained the effort that all members put in to ensure success year-after-year.
“One couple has it on their farm generally, so they do a lot of the preparation work for the paddock but then we all have jobs that we’re all very good at. Some people chase sponsors, some of us are involved with spending the money,” Watson said.
“We have our monthly get together, it starts in about March and it goes through until the event. We all work really well together and we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”
“We all believe that mental health is something especially important in the farming community and we want to raise awareness, and also raise funds to implement programs to support our local community.”
The committee works hard to ensure the costs are reasonable for patrons, raising them slightly this year from $135 to $150 to cover a range of services for the day.
“We’re trying to keep the prices fairly low but there’s a lot of costs associated with the day, especially the buses, insurance, the marque and catering,” Watson said.
“We break even on the day with all the costs but we have sponsors that support the program, and by getting those sponsors is where we make the funds to allocate to the areas of farmer health that we choose to on a yearly basis.”
“We’ve donated $25,000 to the Farmer Health Centre in Hamilton… since day dot. I think we’ve run six mental health first aid courses and we invite local community members that have contact with farmers. We invite 20 people for each two-day course so that’s where a lot of our funding goes.”
“In six years it’s just fabulous. The first year we probably just broke even and the second year we didn’t raise a lot of money either but the last three years have just been a really successful event.”
PHOTO: Mellow in the Yellow
As the day draws closer, the committee is looking forward to seeing attendees enjoy music, some frivolity and a beautiful day.
“It seems like there are lots of good friendship groups that get together on the day and are able to relax, and don’t have to do anything for the day. They just jump on a bus and come out and enjoy the spring weather,” Watson said.
“The Mellow in the Yellow committee really enjoy doing the annual event to raise the funds and the mental health first aid courses have been fabulous.”
In regards to future plans, Watson said, “We will be looking to do different activities to raise awareness and help the local community in regards to Farmers mental health.”
For more details about Live Rural’s work, visit their Facebook Page HERE.
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