By Cr Peter Murrihy
Harnessing the talent of local performers is just another way Council is bringing colour, fun and music to Central Geelong.
Our Music in the City series offers homegrown artists, musicians and street performers the chance to make Little Malop Street mall their stage.
We’re proud to be investing $100,000 in the program, which provides performances in Central Geelong from noon to 2pm each weekday this year.
The monthly schedule of performances is published on the Love Central Geelong website so you can look out for free performances to enjoy on your lunch break, or while shopping, dining or seeing friends or family in the city.
Over the next week there will be free performances from Ocean Grove independent singer/songwriter Andrea Robertson, beloved local duo Sam and Trish from The Gems, and indie-folk, rock, pop outfit Rach Brennan and Bethany Lyall-Green.
The activation program follows consultation with Victoria Police, community groups, traders and property owners about the ways we can all work together to improve public amenity and safety in Central Geelong.
We’re very lucky to have these top-quality performers take part of our wider program to improve the Little Malop Street mall and introduce consistent activations to help the mall become a more appealing place where people feel safe and enjoy spending time.
The activations follow a decision from Council in 2019 that also delivered a new stage and three precincts in the mall.
The three precincts aim to attract different groups of people to the area with a live entertainment and events area, a socialising and eating area, and a children’s play area.
Getting the basics right is a top priority for all of us at the City of Greater Geelong, and we also have cleaners pounding the pavements to keep areas such as Little Malop Street and Moorabool Street clean.
We hope the community will enjoy this wonderful program of free entertainment in Little Malop Street mall over the rest of the year and the growing variety of live music you can see in Geelong.
We’re also looking forward to hosting the Geelong’s Best Busker presented by Steve Thew. This year’s event will be delivered across multiple locations in central Geelong and on the waterfront on Saturday 17 December.
Earlier this year Geelong hosted the landmark Foo Fighters gig at GMHBA Stadium thanks to the Victorian government’s Always Live program.
The Foo Fighters event was a sign that Geelong is going through a real renaissance and major events are going to be so important for the future of our city.
The Foo Fighters gig surpassed the spending we would typically expect to see in the days leading up to Christmas.
Meanwhile our first Surround Sounds festival helped activate venues in Geelong and
The Bellarine across four weeks in April.
The City is continuing to work with event organisers to ensure there’s plenty of other major events coming up to help our hospitality, retail and tourism industries recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The return of White Night Geelong in October will kick-off a bumper month of major events,
including the ICC T20 Men’s Cricket World Cup and the return of local family favourites the Royal Geelong Show and the Geelong Cup.
We hope to see you at these major events or out enjoying the wonderful talent from across our region.
