Festival of Mosman ends on pawfect note
The Festival of Mosman has drawn to a close for 2017 after 10 days of festivities which started with HMAS Penguin’s Freedom of Entry parade through the streets and evening Opening Concert at Balmoral before ending with the ever popular Pet’s Day Out.
Strong attendances were recorded at the 50 community and council events held throughout Mosman with an estimated 16,600 people attending Mosman Council-run events during the festival period despite weather impacting several key events. Due to inclement weather on the final Friday, Children’s Fair was rescheduled to Friday 27 October.
Mosman Mayor Carolyn Corrigan thanked Council staff involved in ensuring the events ran smoothly.
“We were very pleased with the strong attendance at this year’s festival which would not happen without the hard work and dedication of our staff,” Mosman Mayor Carolyn Corrigan said. “The festival has again proven extremely popular with local families and other residents and has become a much anticipated social occasion for many people who return to our concerts, outdoor cinema and highlight events such as Pet’s Day Out.
“Pet’s Day Out was again one of the most popular events, with more than 3,000 pet owners and animal lovers from around the area attending, with many participating in classes with their pets ranging from Doga to obedience training and competitions including Pet-Owner Look-alike and Animal Fancy Dress.
“Our strong cultural program also proved extremely popular, with our Ancient Whale Dreaming Ceremony on Saturday drawing more than 60 early risers to greet the dawn at Balmoral and a new site-specific soundscape called The Moment Under the Moment being added to Mosman Art Gallery’s 2018 program following its successful preview during the festival at the Tiger Cage complex in Middle Head’s military tunnels.”
Other cultural highlights included the 70th anniversary of the Mosman Art Prize and The My Ideal Festival exhibition which showcased the creative talents of primary school students of the Friendship Cities of Mosman (Australia) and Otsu (Japan), which highlighted the similarities and differences of children across the world and featured subjects that the children would like to see in a festival including space travel, food, dancing and fireworks. It is envisaged that the works will now be sent to Otsu for display as part of their annual festival.
Next year, Mosman Council will run its Out & About series of events in Spring before once again preparing for the biennial Festival of Mosman in 2019.