Carnival with a sustainable twist

04/03/2020. SSW. Woodend. St Ambrose Woodend Community Carnival is on Saturday March 14.. Pictured are front from left Zahli, Ellie, Sophie, and Seb. (Shawn Smits)

By Jessica Micallef

The St Ambrose Woodend Community Carnival is back for another year and is promising to be bigger and better.

About 2500 carnival-goers are expected to attend the annual event this weekend, and acting school principal Debbie Geisler is inviting everyone to attend the fun-filled day.

“We love the idea of having a carnival event that gets everyone together to have a great day of old-fashioned fun,” she said.

Carnival committee member Jane said the yearly carnival was one of Woodend’s biggest events on the calendar.

“It’s not just a St Ambrose school event, it’s for the whole community,” she said.

“It’s a celebration of what makes Woodend unique, which is lending a hand to one another and coming together.”

This year’s carnival theme is sustainability and the carnival committee is encouraging everyone to get on board by bringing their own drink bottles.

“We don’t want people using single-use plastic bottles,” Jane said.

“We will have refill water stations and different bins to make it easy to sort waste.”

Classic carnival rides including dodgem cars, a chair-o-plane and a zip line spanning across the school’s oval will be available for those looking for a thrill.

“We really outdo ourselves with the rides and when it comes to entertainment,” Jane said.

The carnival is on Saturday, March 14 at 14-17 Templeton Street, Woodend from 10am-3pm. Ride wristbands can be pre-purchased for $30 or bought on the day for $35. Details: bit.ly/2woQErl