Koala Fest Hawkesbury is back! It will be held at Governor Phillip Park, Windsor this Sunday, 8 September from 10am to 2pm. Hawkesbury City Council is proud to support Koala Fest Hawkesbury.
Now in its second year, Koala Fest is a fun and educational event for all ages. There will be free wildlife displays, live entertainment, free kids' activities, raffles with great prizes, photo opportunities with Cranky Koala, tree giveaways, the famous Koala Com-POO-tition (like a treasure hunt for koala poo - with prizes!), and plenty of information stalls to learn more about koalas and wildlife conservation.
Koala Fest has been created to raise awareness about koalas in our local area and to educate the wider community about how we can all help to conserve our native wildlife.
Koalas in the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains region were recently found to be the most genetically diverse koala population in all of Australia and they are not only restricted to the Kurrajong area.
They have been seen all over the Hawkesbury from the Colo Valley, Bilpin, Bowen Mountain, Grose Vale, Mountain Lagoon, Windsor Downs, Mulgoa, Macdonald Valley and Maraylya.
In 2018, Koala Fest was held at Kurrajong but this year Koala Fest Hawkesbury has grown and will be held at the new location of Governor Phillip Park, George Street, Windsor which offers a large open space that is easy to access with plenty of parking.
Koala Fest is a chance to showcase how community organisations, local businesses, state and local government agencies and citizen science projects are taking action to protect koalas. This event also aims to encourage community members to get involved with existing projects and/or do conservation work on their own land to help improve koala habitat.
Koala Fest Hawkesbury is supported by the NSW Koala Strategy and the Saving our Species program. Along with free children's activities, raffles with great prizes and food trucks, koala tree seedlings will also be handed out to landholders interested in koala habitat restoration
This event was developed by Hawkesbury Bushcare volunteer and Greater Sydney Young Landcare Award recipient Richie Benson. Richie Benson is the founder of 'Koala Fest @ Kurrajong' with agencies including Hawkesbury City Council and Hawkesbury Bushcare, Hawkesbury Environment Network, Landcare, Greater Sydney Local Land Services, Science for Wildlife, Brewongle Environmental Education Centre, Office of Environment and Heritage, Western Sydney University and Conservation Volunteers Australia.
