By Bronwyn Hastings

Art, workshops, campfires and collaborations were highlights of the weekend’s Smoke on the Water two-day event at Horsham.

Eight musical acts featured, with blacksmithing, floral art and mosaic workshops, and art displays, which included a phoenix rising from the ashes of the bonfire, described as ‘spectacular’ by event organiser Andrea Cross.

“It was so good – one of our staff here at the Ag Society dabbles in a bit of sculpting,” she said.

“He welded a metal phoenix together and brought the hinged wings together at the front with a rope. The bonfire was built on top of it, so you couldn’t actually see the phoenix by walking past. 

“When the rope was burnt in the bonfire, the wings released – that was spectacular.”

Mrs Cross said this year’s guest list was something to celebrate – people travelled from the likes of Kangaroo Island, and Melbourne ‘just to get out into the country’ for the weekend.

“Amazingly, on Sunday, I had a woman appear out of nowhere offering to volunteer behind the bar while her husband played in the three-day golf championships,” she said.

“We also engaged new volunteers – for community organisations and committees, the hardest thing is manpower. We had three beautiful members of the community respond to a call-out we made a few months ago seeking help. 

“Those three people were just dynamos, and then on top of that some other locals approached me and said, ‘hey, look, we love what you do’ and one in particular said they wanted to help next year. From that perspective, that was a win.”

A farmer’s fire circle brought people in the fields of mental health and wellbeing together, resulting in planning for a future event.

“Never underestimate the value of people connecting – it was just beautiful,” Mrs Cross said.

“Those collaborations can’t be measured, and I’m so excited for what can still happen because of Smoke on the Water, and because of those people.”

Mrs Cross said wet weather presented challenges to the organisers.

“We knew it was going to rain, but we didn’t think it would rain to the extent it did to make everything soggy,” she said.

“But we rolled out our carpet, our fake turf, and tried to make people as comfortable as we could.”

Art by 13 local artists and photographers was exhibited, Nati Frinj Festival puppets were displayed, and the strange garden mindfulness activity invited people to make carboard flowers. 

Mrs Cross said it was a great community event.

“It was a triple effort – Luke Ladlow was the lead in the festival, and it was great for me as a past leader to be able to work alongside him, guiding him into making the festival and to help him realise his vision,” she said.

“We’ve all got gifts and talents in different areas and it was just a great outcome for us behind the scenes in the engine room – we got positive results from an enormous amount of hard work by the team.”

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