Sharlene and Ian Subbi from the South Coast: It is our 10th festival as we are big Elvis fans. We had his songs play at our wedding and we renewed our vows in 2019. The atmosphere is very enjoyable, and Sharlene will be celebrating her 70th birthday on Thursday!

 

Lyn and Peter Davis with Wagz from Tamworth: We are back for our 18th festival. We just love it. We’ve made friends over the years and we all meet up here. The atmosphere, our music, our generation and everyone here is enjoying themselves.

 

Doug and Norma Cornwall from Yarra Junction, Victoria: We are back for our second festival and we love all aspects of the festival, especially the courtesy bus, and having good meals every day. We are also meeting up with friends here that we’ve met on the road from all over.

Jack de Jong: Going camping for the weekend.

 

Kieran Collits: Spending it with my family.

 

Jacob Howarth: Going to my Aunty’s house for a barbeque.

Sheryl McDonnell: I grew up in Queensland and I loved going fishing with my siblings and my dad. Our family would go for a picnic around the Darling Downs and we fished all day.

Tony Bratton: I went with my friends to the Forbes pool all the time and when we got older, around 13, we rode our push bikes to the river at the caravan park or Four Mile on the Lachlan Val-ley Road to swim in the river.

Monica Wren: Swimming in the Lachlan River with my brother and sisters. We lived on the river and we had our spot where we swam. We had so much freedom.

Laura Vonthien: It was wonderful and very interactive as they got us involved in the show. It is not something that happens at school very often. It was so good to have a band come and play at our school!

 

Benjamin Barnard: It was really good. I did not know what to expect and I thought it was very entertaining. We were so lucky that they picked our school to come to!

 

Rachel Todd: It blew me away. It is very different to the music I listen to, but I definitely want to hear more of them.

 

Marg Sullivan: I saw Bob Dylan’s The Rolling Thunder Revue in Sydney around 1976. I went with my brother and we lined up outside with our tickets for hours for the gates to open and then we ran to get the best spot possible – that’s how it worked in those days! We were right in front of the stage, and Bob Dylan was at his best. I just love him!

 

Di Morris: I went to see The Bodyguard musical at the Sydney Lyric Theatre in 2017. We went by bus from Forbes and stayed overnight. It was very sad, but beautiful. I can’t remember the name of the leading star, but she sounded just like Whitney Houston.

 

 

Renee Ryan: A vending machine specifically for homeless. Giving these people free access to bottles of water, fruit, toothpaste, toothbrush, toiletries and feminine hygiene products. I lived on the streets of Brisbane for 2 months when I was 17. This would have helped a lot.

 

Carlos Alpacca: I would like to see a sushi train restaurant that serves iced cold beers.

 

Megan Byrnes: Aside from me (jokes) some more live music!

Andrew Byrnes, Forbes: Travel the world, first stop Russia!

 

Trent Hocking, Parkes: Coca Cola and Cameron Smith

 

Maxi Lambe, Forbes: Buy my own island with my own language. Everyone would be Lambesinese people

John Scott: Church then the Australian Open tennis on television.

 

Jake Griffiths: Few beers at home.

 

Benny Griffiths: Recovering from a wedding.

Zac Bray: Keeping it how it is.

 

Amanda Punch: I always thought of it as a day to spend time with family and friends.

 

Chris Hodge: As a proud indigenous man, Australia Day has different significance to me.