One of the first events in Moyne cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic is planning for the 2021 version to go ahead.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The 2021 Koroit Irish Festival is scheduled to be held on the weekend of April 30 - May 2.
The 2020 festival was called off in March when the enormity of the pandemic on a global scale made it impossible to be held.
But there was light at the end of the tunnel at the Koroit Irish Festival annual general meeting, held last week.
The committee is planning for a full scale 2021 festival, with much of the planning done for 2020 to be rolled forward.
While the committee will be working on preparing a full festival, it will also have other options available should restrictions cause plans to be downgraded.
Adele MacDonald, who was elected for her second term as festival president, said the committee would be ready for all case scenarios.
"We are very confident, given the festival is still five months away, that we will be able to hold a normal festival," Mrs MacDonald said.
"We were well advanced in our planning for 2020 when we had to call it off so we will be able to put a lot of that hard work to use by carrying it forward to 2021.
"While we are looking forward to a full festival, our main priority remains to keep the community safe so we will be guided by the health restrictions.
"We are preparing for whatever they may be as we go forward."
Mrs MacDonald is part of the Koroit Irish Festival executive that were all re-elected at the AGM. Leon Carey (vice-president), James Callinan (treasurer) and Anthony Evans (secretary) are all back on board.
The 20-person committee will go forward with just one change, that being the retirement of Julian McElgunn.
For the past nine years, Mr McElgunn has overseen the spud picking and peeling competitions at the festival.
Mrs MacDonald praised Mr McElgunn for his years of service to the festival.
"Julian has been a wonderful contributor to the festival and we are going to miss him," she said.
"He knows he is welcome back any time and that we all hold him in high esteem.
"To put in so long on the committee speaks to what a great member of the Koroit community Julian is. He wants to see the festival continue to thrive and he has certainly done his bit to lay the platform for that."
