Southern Grampians Shire Council will host the 11th Greater Hamilton Events Forum on Friday, 11 February 2022. This year’s theme, ‘Finding our Feet… with a Leap of Faith’, has been designed to help support local event organisers.
The Forum is a free event and will provide community groups, sporting clubs, volunteers, businesses, entrepreneurs, event organisers and venue owners the opportunity to not only learn and build new skills, but to network and create invaluable industry connections.
Southern Grampians Shire Council Mayor Bruach Colliton said it is great to have the annual Forum back on the calendar to not only help locals working in the events space, but to also strengthen and support the events industry within the Southern Grampians.
“The Greater Hamilton Events Forum is back for 2022 and will provide vital support to help re-energise our local event organisers to develop strategies that assist to navigate the ever-changing COVID environment,” said Cr Colliton. “This year we are pleased to host an experienced line-up of interstate and local speakers who will be on hand to share their experiences in planning and managing events through a pandemic.
“Obviously the events industry has been hit hard by COVID-19 so having an opportunity to help organisers and businesses to develop the tools they need for future events is an important part of the Forum.
“We invite businesses, event organisers, community groups and anyone interested in boosting their skills to come along,” concluded Cr Colliton.
General Manager of Racing Services for the Australian Turf Club and former Hamilton local, Peter Downs, will share his experience in navigating large horseracing events, in particular the ‘Everest’ race which had last minute COVID restrictions lifted from 5,000 fans to 10,000 fans.
Passionate rural community local and Founder of the Rural Women’s Day celebration in South West Victoria, Jackie Elliott, will share her experience of organising her event during the ongoing pandemic. With two in-person events cancelled due to COVID, Jackie has managed to continue to celebrate rural women and grow an online community.
Council staff, including Manager of the Hamilton Performing Arts Centre, Melissa Forlano and Artistic Director of Hamilton Gallery, Joshua White will discuss opportunities for local event organisers and event funding. The forum will also provide opportunities for attendees to build their online presence and event marketing skills with industry experts in attendance.
Online bookings for the Events Forum are essential via . Updates will be posted online at
