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Lockhart flagship event Spirit of the Land never fails to amaze

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Sean CunninghamNarrandera Argus

Lockhart’s Spirit of the Land Festival was hailed as a “highly successful” event once again last weekend.

Held in Lockhart on the second weekend in October each year, Spirit of the Land is an annual festival which attracted a large crowd of locals and visitors.

It is described as the shire’s flagship event.

Part of the festival, which usually draws a large crowd is the National Farm Art Awards, which feature amazing sculptures created from recycled metal, farm materials and elements of the land.

The Spirit of the Land committee President, Marea Urquhart, said there was a large crowd in attendance on Saturday, the main day of the festival.

As well as the committee members, the festival also relies on a large number of volunteers undertaking a wide variety of roles to help the festival run smoothly.

“We had well over 100 view the farm art sculptures and it was a similar number going through the fine art paintings and photograph exhibition at the Memorial Hall,” Mrs Urquhart said.

“There were over 140 market stalls and we had one of our volunteers asking the stall holders how they felt and the majority were very happy.

“Our sculpture competition seems to be getting bigger and better each year since it started in 2007.

“The overall winner was Stuart Taylor of Deniliquin with his kangaroo sculpture which won him $10,000. He’s a great exhibitor who is here every year and he has won previously.” 

Mrs Urquhart said there were various categories for people of all different skill levels – a junior section and this year for the first time, a dedicated female section.

“James Corby won the People’s Choice sculpture with his water feature, which was very creative,” she said.

“We had 58 sculptures and they were very creative and of a very high standard.

“We had over 100 entries in the fine art paintings, which were displayed really well and about 50 photographs.

“Vicki McKoy from Howlong was the overall winner with her painting called “Waiting for Rain”.

“Donna Brown won the People’s Choice category with her painting, “On the Back”, which had Kelpie dogs in the back of a ute.

“There was some great art on display.” Judges were brought in to offer their opinions on the art works and choose the winners.

Mrs Urquhart said there were also exhibits displayed by “noted artists” from Wagga who support the festival each year.

“We’re fully backed by Lockhart council – it’s an excellent community event,” she said.

“The festival created a great atmosphere and the people with the open gardens were very pleased too.” 

The festival started during one of the worst droughts in Lockhart’s history as a celebration to the resilience of those who live and work on the land.

Plans will soon be in place to make next year’s festival as successful as it has been in previous years.

L-R: Spirit of the Land Honda 2; Spirit of the Land Indigenous Artist Award; Spirit of the Land People’s Choice Art On the Back by Donna Brown. Photos courtesy Narrandera Argus

“We’ll do a debrief and note if we can do something better for next year’s show to keep the interest going, but it won’t be until February until we have our first official meeting again,” Mrs Urquhart said.

Narrandera Argus 17 October 2024

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 17 October 2024.

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