General News
27 October, 2022
Countdown on for 30th Energy Breakthrough
Princes Park is getting ready to host Maryborough’s biggest annual affair — the 2022 Energy Breakthrough (EB), an event that will celebrate innovation in technology. Returning in November from the 16th to the 20th, after it was cancelled for two...
Princes Park is getting ready to host Maryborough’s biggest annual affair — the 2022 Energy Breakthrough (EB), an event that will celebrate innovation in technology.
Returning in November from the 16th to the 20th, after it was cancelled for two pandemic-ridden-years, EB is expecting to witness participation from over 5000 students coming from across 110 schools in Victoria.
Central Goldfields Shire councillor and Energy Breakthrough Governance Group chairperson Liesbeth Long said excitement was building for its comeback this year after running for three decades.
“Not only is it our first since 2019 but we’ll also be celebrating 30 plus years of the event — which is a wonderful milestone that deserves acknowledgement and thanks to our community that make it possible,” she said.
“Despite the event not going ahead the past two years — so much has been happening behind the scenes to make this year’s event a wonderful success.”
And there’s still more to do according to Central Goldfields Shire Energy Breakthrough event director Alisha Chadwick.
“It’s exciting and overwhelming but there’s lots and lots to organise. We’ve been doing so much more than just putting together the event this year. We’ve been updating all our plans even redesigning some of them,” she said.
The committee has undertaken a significant amount of strategic planning in the past two years.
“We’ve gotten the opportunity to really drill down and see what’s worked in the past, what hasn’t and what we need to change,” Cr Long said.
“The governance group is really focused on the policy, the risk factors and the budget. So we’ve really been able to have two years to get that down.”
Pulling in more than 20,000 visitors, a range of local businesses in the tourism, hospitality and accommodation sector will reap the benefits of the event with an estimated $4.9 million expected to be injected into the region’s economy.
Around 40-50 local contractors will also be involved to help set up the event.
But the success of EB rests on the community.
“We really couldn’t do it without the local community,” Ms Chadwick said.
“There’s community groups that come and help with catering, waste collection, toilet and shower cleaning, they help set up the track, and the site as well. We’ve got so many local groups that help.”
Volunteers are another pillar that support the event — but this time around they’ve been harder to source.
“We’ve always been putting the call out for volunteers and this year we are pushing it a lot more. We always get a good response from the community and we’re trying to get that local support,” Ms Chadwick said.
Cr Long, who has also put her hand up to be a volunteer is urging other residents to join in on the fun.
“It’s super exciting, I’ve signed up to be a judge for the presentation for two full days. So put me down for as much as you want.”
The EB committee is still looking for volunteers, for those interested to apply, more information is available at eb.org.au