Community and Cultural Facilities
There are 23 Council owned/managed community halls/centres, including a hall at Wingello that Council is in the process of acquiring from the NSW Lands Department. This number doesn’t include the Council owned/managed Council Chambers at Moss Vale, the four Council Guide/Scout halls and the five Council Senior Citizens/Country Women’s Association/RSL halls. The Shire also has one Council owned/managed youth centres, two theatres, one museum and three libraries.
Markets and Festivals
Markets are held in a range of public and some private facilities in most villages across the shire
Festival style events in the Shire include (but not limited to):
- Springtime in Robertson, October
- Southern Highlands Antique Fair (Bowral Memorial Hall, Bendooley Street)
- Brigadoon is Bundanoon
- Woolcraft Festival (Robertson School of Arts Hall)
- Burradoo Polocrosse Club Annual Carnival
- Festival of Australian Bush Poetry, Sutton Forest Village Hall and grounds
- Burrawang Folk Music Festival and the Easter Fair (Burrawang School of Arts, Hoddle and Crown Streets, Burrawang)
- Southern Highlands Festival of Wine, Food and Arts, Eling Forest Winery, Sutton Forest
- Jazz Festival
- Tulip Time Festival, held on Council land Bowral and Mittagong and accompanied by National Parks and Wildlife Service and private displays/activities
- Festival of the Book
The above festivals are held on a mix of public and private land. The current broad range of festivals is organised from both within and outside the local area. Public liability costs and transport costs are key challenges for community festivals. Council allocates varying levels of money and time to festivals, depending on issues such as tourism impact and local community focus etc. Some organising groups obtain tourism grants from the NSW Government, festival grants, and arts grants. Funding is competitive – given the number and range of these style events in the region.
community & culurral