Chairman's Column

G'day everyone,

Well, what can I say? This year would have to be one of the hardest years Agfest has faced to date, but also one of the most exciting. We have gone from being the first Committee back in March to ever cancel the event to then creating Agfest in the Cloud in an amazing six-week turn around. I could not be prouder of the Agfest Committee for what we have achieved this year and what we are aspiring to achieve in May 2021. I cannot thank our members, staff, past members and clubs enough for helping Rural Youth and Agfest get through 2020.
The last few months have been hectic on the Agfest front. Applications opened on 1 October and it was amazing to see our fantastic and loyal exhibitors signing up for Agfest 2021. Applications closed on 1 December and we have received 525 applications ready for our allocation team to work their magic.
We had some exciting news to end the year on. The Tasmanian Government is helping Rural Youth and Agfest out with a much-needed $300,000! It is great to see that they believe in Agfest and what we can achieve and have achieved over the last 37 years, as well as what Agfest contributes to the Tasmanian economy and agriculture sector. We were also successful in obtaining a $67,000 grant through the Federal Government’s grant scheme for COVID-affected agricultural shows. While this certainly doesn’t cover our loss incurred in 2020, we are forever grateful for the support and generosity of both the Tasmanian and  Australia Governments. This funding will definitely help us be back in the paddock in 2021.
On behalf of myself and the Agfest Committee, we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Be safe, be responsible and we look forward to seeing everyone in 2021.

Cheers, 
Ethan Williams 
Agfest 2021 Chairman  

From the Paddock - Site Hire Appreciation  

In November, the wedding of Alex and Rhiannon Griffiths was celebrated with a ceremony at Entally House followed by the reception at Quercus Park.
What an amazing experience to have a wedding at Quercus Park. From start to finish, everything flowed effortlessly and with Jade, the site caretaker on hand to provide advice and assistance, it was a huge success. The many access doors, including the roller door access, made setup and pack down a breeze. 
Catering staff were impressed with the high standard of equipment provided in the commercial kitchen with plenty of refrigeration space. The bar staff were equally impressed by the provision of plenty of refrigeration, equipment and glass cleaning capabilities.
Despite the weather taking a turn for the worse in the evening, there was plenty of outdoor undercover and ample room inside for the 120 guests. 
Having the new accommodation block on offer to stay in and camping available was a huge advantage, which we made the most of and slept in our little camper.
The furniture, lighting and wall drapes were provided by Salters Hire, which turned an otherwise conference-looking room into a romantic dream wedding. This was exactly what the bride and groom wanted.
Everybody in attendance commented on how fantastic the room looked. Even down to such a minor detail like having plenty of power points was great with regards to the lighting and music.  
The music was provided by DJ Dan who has done a few events now at Quercus Park and also speaks highly of the function centre.
There is nothing I would change, it was a beautiful wedding in a great location and given all that has happened in 2020, what a fantastic way to cap it off with much love, laughter and fun.

Appreciation post written by Sharron Griffiths - Mother of the groom

The Latest from the Event Desk

We are full steam ahead with our planning to return to the paddock in 2021. Application have closed and our selection committee have started allocating over 500 exhibits and will be working through the Christmas break to ensure successful exhibitor notifications are ready for distribution at the end of January 2021.
We are proactively working with Tasmanian Country on the release of our New look Official Guide, which will be a digital format and printed publication is set to be released in the 30 April edition.
Events Tasmania are currently supporting us through our Covid-19 safety plan and along with the Agfest committee we have made great progress in our planning to ensure that the 2021 paddock event will be as safe as possible.
Our Agfest committee had their Christmas break-up party over the past weekend and also held an Olympiad challenge at Quercus Park. Members came from all over the state to fight it out for the title of Champion Club, from the far depths of the Huon to the wilderness of Circular Head. But there could only be one winner... Sorell!! After putting their southern and northern heads together to create flags, mascots and of course, a team chant to get the fighting spirit ready, members went on to compete for their clubs. Tug-of-war, obstacle courses and hay carting tested their strength and speed, whilst their brains took a strain with a Rural Youth / AGFEST quiz. The finer skills in life came into play with paper towel and a much-needed drink (of water) and the ability to pop a balloon with a mate. Good old 'flip cup' rounded off a great day. All in all, it was a day of jokes and laughter, and a great chance for members to come together and just have fun.

Agfest Committee Spotlight - Ash Reynolds

Name: Ashleigh Reynolds

Area of the State where you live: Kingborough

Agfest Committee title: Safety and Compliance Assistant

Brief description of your Committee role: The Safety and Compliance role is there to ensure the safety of everyone on site. Part of the role is to coordinate and manage emergencies and site issues, as well as ensuring the health, wellbeing and compliance of our team of volunteers, the patrons and exhibitors when necessary

Share a snapshot of your Agfest / Rural Youth history: I joined Rural Youth in 2017 and have thrown my hat in the ring for every opportunity that has arisen. I have been a part of fantastic Rural Youth run events – including Agfest, amazing learning and development opportunities, and created some life- long friendships

Why did you decide to join Rural Youth: My partner at the time actually signed me up as he had been a member for years, and I will be forever grateful for that. The reasons I have stayed include the opportunities, friendship and ongoing development that I have received since joining

What are the key skills you have gained from your involvement in Agfest: Communication, attention to details, negotiating, problem solving, multitasking, adaptability and resilience

Describe the most hilarious moment so far of your involvement in the field days: There are far too many to count! One of them has to be watching three of the boys try and hold down an auger to drill a post hole, and them all taking a bit of a spin with it

Three words that best describe you: Motivated, innovative, honest

Share a description of any other jobs / voluntary positions you hold: My employment is in a Social Welfare role and I am currently not volunteering anywhere outside of Rural Youth and the Salvation Army

Describe the three activities you love to do on the weekend: Camp, fish, hunt and spending time with loved ones

Favourite movie: Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Favourite food: A good big brekky. Bonus points if it has salmon

Favourite book: The Complete Book of Australian Flying Doctor Stories

If you could invite any three people to join you for a dinner party, who would they be: Dwayne Johnson, Barrack Obama, Anne Frank

If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be: To remove human greed

 Merchandise GiveAway

Have you kept up with the changes to Agfest 2021 due to COVID-19 ? Agfest and Rural Youth are committed to providing a safe and compliant event and have made changes to congested patron areas to enable social distancing. Please email support@agfest.com.au by COB 21 December 2020 and tell us what changes have been made to the craft pavilions.
The winner will be drawn from all correct answers received and will receive a cooler bag and stubby holder just in time for the Christmas break. 

Congratulations to Christine Puckeridge on winning the November Agfest Antics Newsletter family pass giveaway.

Christine sent through this great shot of the bullocks from Quercus Park’s Central Arena.

We look forward to welcoming Christine back to the paddock in 2021! 

Community Focus - The Rotary Club of Westbury

Name of community group: The Rotary Club of Westbury

Location of group: Membership is drawn from Westbury and surrounding districts

Two-sentence description of the group’s vision, membership and goals: The Rotary Club of Westbury has 28 members, meets weekly and focuses on community work – both locally and internationally. The Club offers a wide range of benefits to members, including public speaking opportunities, promotion of businesses, networking, working on international projects, and construction and maintenance of local community developments

Number of years exhibited at Agfest: All 38 years through gate keeping and catering

Describe the preparation involved to participate in Agfest: Our Agfest applications, planning, food van maintenance and compliance commences about six months prior to the event. In the final two months, we develop the menu, order produce and finalise rosters (we have more than 45 volunteers working on our site over the four days including the day prior to opening)

Describe your site and what you deliver at Agfest: The Rotary Club of Westbury brings it own food van to deliver wholesome and scrumptious food to Agfest patrons. We aim to provide as much seating as possible for our customers so they can take a break and enjoy our food. Our menu consists of egg and bacon rolls, Devonshire teas, toasted sandwiches, hot chips, steak sammos, soft drinks, tea and coffee. This year we will also be offering hamburgers. Our focus is to serve our customers promptly and efficiently

Overview what difference the proceeds you take from Agfest has made to your community: Agfest is our major fundraiser for the year, enabling the Club to support local and international projects on a consistent basis. Some of the projects that we have worked on include installing an electric BBQ and shelter on the Village Green at Westbury, supporting the local prostate cancer fundraising, erecting a new awning patio at the Westbury Community Health Centre and sending building teams to Fiji to construct several houses for local residents and every year we donate money to Polio Plus to assist in the global efforts to eradicate polio

Share one memorable Agfest moment: When we used to do the Agfest gate at both Symmons Plains and Quercus before the ticket boxes were constructed, we used to collect all the entry takings in nail bags!

In your words, how important is Agfest to Tasmania: The event has been a growing and huge success for almost 40 years, providing a massive impetus for farmers to review and purchase latest technology and machinery. It’s also a great economic enabler for the accommodation and tourism industry. We are ever so thankful to the young Rural Youth volunteers who work so hard to make this event possible for so many exhibitors and patrons

From our Rural Youth CEO -
Karen Robinson 

As an organisation Rural Youth is no different to the rest of the population, we can’t wait for the year to end!!  We also know we are extremely fortunate to have ‘survived’ the year, as cancelling Agfest was a severe blow to our budget. Many events and organisations did not fare as well.  We are extremely grateful to the Tasmanian Government for providing us with $300,000 to assist with delivering Agfest in 2021.
Speaking of which, as you can see from this newsletter, Ethan, his team and the staff are working hard to deliver a safe and fantastic event to celebrate being back in the paddock! 
It may look a little different, but our aim remains the same - work hard, pick up a new skill or two, produce a great event and have fun along the way! If you are a member and haven’t volunteered at the event before, have a look at the week of 3 May and if you are able, why not come along and see what the excitement is about!  There will be some early starts and a late night or two, but I can guarantee you will have a great time as well.
Many of our usual activities have been cancelled this year but we have had a lot of fun with Club Comps – everything from Club mocktails and photo comps to our most recent best decorated Christmas cupcakes!!! 
In March we will recognise our biggest veggie grower!! Keep your eye out in 2021 for our new batch of Club comps and if you have a great idea give Luci (our comp master) a call at HQ!!  We are also launching a massive membership drive in the new year – stay tuned for more details!!! 
On a different note, we are excited to welcome the Magic Millions horse sale to Quercus in February 2021.  We have been working hard to attract new hires to the site and we hope to have more in the coming months.  The new AV system will be installed in January so the Function Centre will be good to go for just about any event.  After a few delays, the accommodation and ablution block are also available for hire.
As we say goodbye to 2020, I would like to pay tribute to the Rural Youth Board, Agfest Committee and our members for all their hard work and commitment – thank you!!!  I would also like to thank my team, Linda, Selena, Kylie, Luci and Jade – put simply – you make the Rural Youth world a better place to be, not to mention a greater organisation!
I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year, and like me, you have the opportunity to see friends and family you have done without over the months of restrictions.  Relax, put your feet up and get ready for a BIG 2021!!!! 
PS: I look forward to seeing you in the paddock in May!!

Christmas Closure

From Rural Youth and Agfest, we wish you all a joyful Christmas and good health and happiness in 2021.
For any media inquiries during the Christmas break,  please call Selena Flanagan, Events and Sponsorship Manager, on 0447 067 768 or email admin@agfest.com.au. 

We look forward to seeing you at Quercus Park for Agfest in the Paddock from 5 – 8 May and in the Cloud from 8 – 15 May