Festival still in fine tune

THE VICTORIAN Governor officially opened the 60th Dandenong Festival of Music and Art for Youth on Sunday.
The event has become a long-standing tradition and has been a platform to success for many aspiring musicians living in the region.
Victorian Governor Professor David de Kretser opened the festival at the Drum Theatre on Sunday at 2pm.
Prof de Kretser is the festival’s chief patron, and the festival committee said in a statement that it was proud to have him at the 60th year milestone.
To celebrate the event’s history, the opening concert featured a swag of past entrants who are now regulars in the music industry. These included Ronald Farren-Price, Suzanne Johnston, Tony Fenelon, Peter Mander, Aura Go and many more.
A memorabilia display was also available in the Drum Theatre foyer. Known in short as the Dandenong Festival, the event opened in 1948 with just 100 entrants from as far away as rural Victoria.
This year there will be 1200 entrants in music divided between piano, vocal, choirs, strings, brass and woodwind.
The art exhibition will open on 25 April at the Drum Theatre. For more information visit the website at http://www.users.bigpond.com/dandenongfestival/.