March 2019 | David Claridge

WESTBURY WILL be green in March with a family festival to coincide with Saint Patricks Day. After last year’s festival was cancelled due to planning problems, the committee has made sure 2019 will go ahead on the 16th March.

Secretary Amanda Taylor expressed how the annual festival comes about to celebrate Westbury’s Irish heritage. “We want it to be a family friendly festival. There will be local performers as we celebrate Westbury’s history. “It was settled by many Irish immigrants and convicts such as Richard Dry”, she said. Westbury in the 1820s was a garrison village.

The first settlers were mainly Irish ex-convicts, retired soldiers and free settlers. By 1850 it was the largest military community in Tasmania. Richard Dry was the largest landowner in Westbury. An ex-convict through political exile, he helped many Irish people set up in Westbury. His son became the first nativeborn Premier of Tasmania.

From the events Facebook Page: There will be a street parade at 10.ooam along with performers and food and craft stalls, a church market, vintage tractors and children’s activities. As previously published in Meander Valley Gazette, “The event’s new steering group is working hard to recreate a village festival that celebrates Westbury’s Irish heritage with an emphasis on folk tradition and rural activities.”

The festival will be at the Westbury Village Green from 10.00am - 4.00pm. Entry will be by donation.