The Werribee River Association is hosting an inaugural River FEST at Wyndham Park to celebrate World Rivers Day, on Sunday 24 September, 12noon to 5pm.

The River FEST will celebrate the Werribee River through the arts and cultural performances at this free family orientated event, in the heart of Werribee.

Taking place on the traditional lands of the Wadawarrung people, the festival pays respect to elders past and present, acknowledging 60,000+ years of caring for the ecosystems of the Wirribi Yuluk.

On the Main Stage, community choir Glee West, a confluence of 60 voices, will sing songs that honour and revere our river systems. Local Karen, South Sudanese and Indian community groups will interpret their cultural relationship to waterways through dance.

Western suburbs band, The Orbweavers, will perform songs from their Newer Volcanics project, an ode to the Victorian Volcanic Plains and Waterways of the West.

Headlining the event will be Ethiopian born, now Wyndham-based musician, Nhatty Man. From the Nile to the Werribee, Nhatty Man has found peace and musical solace in the rivers he has lived beside. His energetic blend of Afro-beat, reggae and Ethiopian pop will get you up and celebrating our magnificent and mighty river.

There will be something for everyone at River FEST. Off stage you can try your hand at weaving with Vicki Kinai, waterways in watercolour with Xiang Li, First Nations craft and culture and Didge Meditation with Michael Cussens, and nature play and craft with Eat My Garden.

Visit the pop-up War on Waste Space, where everyone is invited to bring along something to swap, whether it be a poem, picture or plum. There will also be a Museum of Plastic and advise on how to recycle-right and reduce all that stuff! Make sure to bring along your un-donate-able clothes and fabrics and watch as local textile artist Connor Ovenden-Shaw live sews them into his growing waste-warrior cape.

Join in the Platypus Procession with the Beatfactor drummers and our LitterBlitz Crews as we make some noise, dance and parade for healthy waterways.

The Werribee River Association tent will feature Perri the Platypus, and Perri’s afternoon tea – real life water-bugs – that can be viewed under the microscope!

All activities at the festival are free and kindly supported by Wyndham City, Lendlease, Project Space and Melbourne Water.

Pencil in your diary now, to join River Fest, Sunday 24 September 12noon to 5pm, at Wyndham Park. Byo picnic rug and the family, and enjoy an afternoon down by the Werribee River.

werribeeriver.org.au

Enquiries: jess.fairfax@werribeeriver.org.au