Margaret Pell, Kyneton
It is so disappointing and depressing that the Macedon Ranges Council feels that funding for the Kyneton Daffodil Festival does not fit their funding matrix and is therefore unable to fund it.
The Daffodil Festival is such a success and I know of many people in Melbourne who immediately associate Kyneton with daffodils. Many suburban garden clubs make special visits to Kyneton to enjoy the amazing roadside and garden displays of daffodils. Additionally the festival acknowledges the outstanding achievements of Eve Murray whose knowledge and breeding prowess of daffodils has been acknowledged internationally.
The council can find $1500 for the International Women’s Day lunch but not $1 for a festival which has its roots in the achievements of this internationally renowned woman whose influence has helped make Kyneton the Daffodil Capital of regional Victoria.
My family has lived in Kyneton since the late 60s, and without fail we have always attended events, associated with the festival – the open gardens, the flower shows, the parade, the CWA shows and on a lighter note the ferret racing.
It is hard to understand why there is $5000 available for Christmas in Romsey, $6000 for The Gisborne Christmas Festival and $6000 for the Woodend Armistice Day Re-enactment. No doubt these are worthy events but I was certainly unaware of them until I saw them on the council website. If there is funding for such events why not the festival?
I would ask your readers to look at the event funding on the council website and judge for themselves. Surely such a popular and longstanding event as the Kyneton Daffodil Festival is equally worthy of council funding.
Time to review the funding matrix, perhaps?
