We are sorry to say that the 2018 Swiss Italian Festa has been cancelled this year due to lack of volunteer support. The Festa has been a highly popular event with local schools, artists, heritage groups, Swiss and Italian Clubs, visitors and residents since 1993. However, over the past several years, the number of committee members and volunteers supporting the Festa have diminished to the point that it is not possible to present the event this year. Last year was the 25th anniversary Festa and it was very successful, but Ian Tinetti (vice president) and I (president) believe that a younger and more invigorated group of volunteers and committee are now needed to take the Festa forward in coming years. In 2016 we foreshadowed in The Advocate that the event's future was in danger. It has always required strong community and local and State Government support to meet the ongoing costs of entertainment, public liability insurance, marketing, program and poster printing, road signage, St John's Ambulance fees and fireworks. The Festa requires much time preparing grant allocations and acquittals, road closure approvals and many other administrative tasks. It also needs a band of willing and capable volunteers to help fundraising, marshal events such as the lantern parade and fireworks, street march, landscape art prize and the family concert, and to ensure a properly organised program. The Hepburn Shire and the Victorian Office of Multicultural Affairs have been very generous supporters of the Festa and the committee hopes that this support will continue if new organisers and volunteers can be found in 2019. The fundamental issues this year have been our inability to appoint a professional Festa director early enough to organise the schools' participation, Festa events and administration, and to find enough people to do the work. If you are interested to join the committee in 2019 or be listed as a volunteer helper for next year, please register your interest on: [email protected] Thank you Ian Head President Hepburn Springs Swiss Italian Festa Over a five day period the people of Hepburn Springs and Daylesford show off to their neighbours and the wider community of Victoria, their pride in the strong links to the Swiss and Italian settlers of the district in the 1850's. The Festa also highlights the wide-ranging skills and diversity of the present community and the areas unique environment, still closely linked to 'taking the waters' at the numerous mineral springs.