Festival in Surry Hills, 2010

Prince Alfred Park, home of the festival for the last few years, is currently being refurbished, including the upgrade of paths, the building of an exercise and a child’s play area and the relocation of basketball and tennis courts.

This has seen the festival transfer to its previous home of Crown Street. Organisers see this as a fitting move because, to celebrate 2010, the Festival will be moving to the Surry Hills postcode of 2010.

However, this year event organisers have confirmed that they will not be able to close Crown Street, as has occurred in the past. This is primarily because they simply cannot afford to pay the high fees Sydney City Council requests to close the street. This, as well as growing crowds, was the reason the festival was previously moved to Prince Alfred Park.

“This year Crown Street will remain open,” says Chair of the Surry Hills Neighbourhood Centre, Linda Scott. “It’s an incredibly expensive exercise to close a street and as the Surry Hills Festival is a fundraiser we don’t have the funds to facilitate that.”

With the street not an option, the primary locations of this year’s festival will be Ward Park (Devonshire St) and Shannon Reserve (Crown St). Organisers hope that this will give the festival a “creative, intimate and ... a community picnic feel”.

The festival will see an array of stalls, including vintage fashion, local art, funky pet wear and international food stalls. There will also be live entertainment across a number of stages as well as creative workshops for kids.

“There will be something for everyone,” says Linda Scott. “The Surry Hills Festival is a big festival but is still a very local festival, taking place within the streets of Surry Hills. We really hope that local businesses will get involved this year because it will be happening in their local streets.”

Janusz Tawlak, manager of the local Polish Alchemy Café Restaurant is thrilled the festival is moving back to Crown Street. “We are happy to see the festival return,” says Tawlak. “Previously the street has come alive during the festival and I think it’s great for local businesses because more people can try things they otherwise would not.”

This year will also see for the first time concerts and activities taking place prior to the festival day. Details will be released by the Surry Hills Neighbourhood centre closer to the festival date.

The Surry Hills Neighbourhood Centre is also encouraging locals to come forward with idea. “Some of our best ideas in the past have come from locals just coming to us,” says Ms Scott. “They love to get involved in the organisation process and I encourage any locals with creative ideas for the festival to come forward.”

The Surry Hills Festival will run from 9.30am to 6pm on Saturday, April 10, 2010.

Photo: Ali Blogg - Surry Hills Festival in Crown Street, 2004

Source: South Sydney Herald March 2010 www.southsydneyherald.com.au