The central Victorian township of Clunes in the Hepburn Shire has recently been declared Australia’s first International Booktown, making it the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
Clunes boasts seven bookshops, three online booksellers, six stores with books as part of their stock mix and there are four bookshops in neighbouring towns.
Gaining notoriety for its many bookshops, the tiny town has been running the annual Back to Booktown Festival since 2007, attracting more than 15,000 visitors to the region over the first weekend in May.
In light of the significant economic and cultural contribution of the Festival to the region, Hepburn Shire Council provides funding and in kind assistance to Creative Clunes Inc. (the organisation that runs the Festival), including help with waste management, road closures and site set up.
Now, Clunes has entered the world stage with the declaration by the International Organisation of Booktowns, placing it alongside the famous European Booktowns of Hay-on-Wye in Wales and Wigtown in Scotland.
In congratulating Clunes on the declaration, Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu said, “This gives Victoria an exciting new tourism draw card and is expected to provide a significant cultural and economic boost for the region.”
Mr Baillieu went on to say that Clunes’ International Booktown status represented “a great effort and a tribute to the town, to the partnership approach it has adopted with state and local government, and to its efforts to build a sustainable future based on words, books and ideas.”
