SA Premier Jay Weatherill is to officially open the 2013 Kernewek Lowender Copper Coast Cornish Festival on Friday, May 24, at 2 pm, in Queen Square, Moonta.
Prior to officiating at the opening, Mr Weatherill will watch the Furry Dance down George Street, visit some displays and associated activities, and have lunch with Mayor of the District Council of the Copper Coast Paul Thomas and invited guests.
After the opening in Queen Square Mr Weatherill will visit the Kernewek Lowender Art Collection before leaving at approximately 3.30 pm.
Thousands of people are expected to attend this week’s 2013 Kernewek Lowender Copper Coast Cornish Festival which began last night with the well attended Art Prize Soiree, at the Ascot Theatre in Kadina.
Tickets for many events are sold out and Kernewek Lowender Inc Executive Officer Rosemary Cock says the continuing level of enquiry, booked out accommodation and the number of overseas and interstate visitors already in the region enjoying the record number of displays and supporting activities all augers well for the rest of the week.
“We are expecting up to 5,000 people to be in Moonta on Friday for the Procession, Furry and Maypole dancing and official opening, and a similar number in Victoria Square in Kadina on Saturday, and at Kadina oval for Sunday’s Cavalcade Fun Fair”, Rosemary said yesterday.
“It has been a very busy lead up but our committee, in conjunction with Moonta Progress Association, Moonta National Trust, NYP Rotary Club, and the many Copper Coast community organisations helping to run events and stalls across the week must be really pleased with their efforts, and there’s a real sense of camaraderie as we lead up to this weekend,” she said.
“Everyone--from local businesses, Council staff, SAPOL and emergency services, event conveners and committees, Russacks coordinating all the sound requirements, stall holders, food vendors, and sporting club task forces, to amusement operators, teachers helping with the hundreds of children involved in the parade, maypole and furry dancing, entertainers, OPAL giving out fruit and water to participating children, Apex , Farm Shed staff and tourism operators—all have been working together to ensure we have a great time, celebrating our Cornish heritage. I thank them all for their cooperation and help”, Rosemary said. “I also thank my executive officer predecessor, Rachael Ayles, who has volunteered her time in the last few weeks to help me, which has been just fantastic.
“All that is left now is for everyone to get into the swing of the week by dressing up, and attending as many of the displays, feasts, writers events and concerts that are on offer.”
Special guests during the week will include Premier Jay Weatherill at Moonta on Friday, former Premier John Olsen AO (guest speaker at the President’s Dinner on Thursday night), Member for Goyder Steven Griffiths, and many Mayors from around the State.
“I also acknowledge our major sponsors, the District Council of the Copper Coast, SA Tourism Commission, BankSA, RAA, and Newbery Chemists for their significant contributions, without which we would not have a festival”, Rosemary said.
She advises George Street will be closed all day as a mall on Friday, enabling Moonta businesses to join in the fun with sidewalk trading. Sections of Henry, Robert, Ellen and William streets will also be closed for the procession, Maypole, Furry dancing and other entertainment.
“Look out too, for the Clydesdale trolley as well as Moonta Tramways, offering rides to and from car park areas and attractions”, Ms Cock said.
In Kadina, sections of Graves Street, Taylor and Hay streets will be closed on Saturday for festivities including more Maypole and Furry dancing.
A big day is also planned for Sunday, with more than 300 vehicles already registered for the Cavalcade of Cars and Motorcycles, leaving from the Viterra marshalling yards at Wallaroo and travelling to Moonta and onto Kadina oval for the Fun Fair.
For a full program visit www.kernewek.org , and for ticket purchases phone 8821 4500 or 8821 2333.
Download: Complete final program 2013
The six day program, running from May 20-26, is designed to involve the whole Copper Coast community, with a focus on this year being the 40th anniversary of this major South Australian event.
Past committee members and dignitaries are to be invited back for the 2013 event–and to a civic reception–to mark the 40 years of festival success since the inaugural event was staged in 1973 to such acclaim.
The 2013 program is again expected to attract tens of thousands of people from around Australia and the world to the Copper Coast region, with its record number of displays and associated activities organised by enthusiastic community groups, well complementing the traditional Kernewek Lowender events on offer.
Moonta Progress Association and Moonta National Trust are combining forces as organisers of the BankSA Moonta Parade and Street Party on Friday, May 24.
The Maypole and Furry Dances, the Procession, street stalls, Cornish pasty bake-offs, Queen’s Square entertainment, and the official opening will all be features of this event.
The major event on the Saturday (May 25) is the Rotary Village Green Fair in Kadina (staged by the NYP Rotary Club in conjunction with the Kernewek Lowender committee) where Victoria Square will be filled with stalls amid entertainment, children’s activities, the Cousin Jack and Jenny competitions (sponsored by NYP Quilters), and more Maypole and Furry Dancing.
On Sunday, May 26, the monster RAA Cavalcade of Cars and Motorcycles is again expected to attract more than 500 entries, commencing from the Viterra Marshalling yards at Wallaroo, and travelling to Moonta and on to Kadina, culminating at Kadina oval for the Cavalcade Fun Fair.
Traditional Kernewek Lowender events include the coveted Newbery Chemists Art Prize and Soiree, and the Cornish Association of South Australia is again presenting its impressive Gathering of the Bards and Dressing the Graves ceremonies, and its popular Cornish Language lessons, Cornish Seminar and Spiritual Retreats.
There is much on offer for food, written word and music lovers, too, with more evening concerts, writers events and feasts, and top billing on a long entertainers list is Catherine Hancock, the current lead soprano in Little Women the Musical who just happens to be the great great granddaughter of Moonta Mining Company’s most renowned superintendent, Captain Henry Richard Hancock.
Explore this website for more details of the final program, and for tickets information contact the Kernewek Lowender office at The Farm Shed Museum & Tourism Centre: 8821 4500, 50 Moonta Road, Kadina, or email kernewek@coppercoast.sa.gov.au