Floats from many regional areas in Australia were a highlight of the colourful Centenary of Federation parade staged in Sydney on New Years Day.
For the Regional Arts Board Albury Wodonga (RAB), which coordinated the production of the float for this region, the role of Local Government was a vital one.
This float was the only one in the parade representing Local Government at a cross border level.
Eight Councils – Albury, Corowa, Culcairn, Holbrook and Hume in New South Wales and Indigo, Towong and Wodonga in Victoria – are funding partners of the Regional Arts Board.
Their communities were involved in the float’s design.
“We believe our float was truly representative of what our region wanted with communities having input into the final design through the workshops we ran,” said Regional Arts Officer, Narelle Vogel.
Individuals and groups in those communities also produced the colourful banners that decorated the float.
“This meant many small towns and villages had a presence in the celebrations that really are about the people’s contribution to Australia becoming a nation,” Narelle Vogel said.
The float’s design reflected the importance of the Murray River to the region.
The Murray River was represented in gold as it travels from the mountains and is trapped in the Hume Weir and then travels on to the wetlands.
At the end of the float was a giant fish whose design was inspired by a dreaming story of the local Indigenous community.
Narelle Vogel said another exciting element of the float was the dance component with over fifty local people performing in the Sydney parade.
