Allan Hogan, Communications Subcommittee Convenor, Bulletin 6/2022, August 2022

The Community Festival celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Glebe Society was an outstanding success, praised by members and the many visitors it attracted. It was a celebration of our successes over half a century in preserving the heritage and community of Glebe and making it a great place to live. The Festival took place at the Harold Park Community Hall from 23 to 30 June 2019, with several activities taking place in the surrounding community. Over 2,500 people attended the Exhibition, and 1,100 people attended events.

Now there’s website devoted to those eight memorable days, and the many events and presentations which were so widely enjoyed. The website link can be found on our homepage (bottom right) or go to it directly.  There you’ll find full details of the Festival’s exhibitions and presentations, and the stories behind the preparation and planning for these events. To mention a few: The Glebe History Walks with Max Solling; a panel discussion about the Founding Women of the Glebe Society; Radical Glebe (where the panellists were at the forefront of several social activist movements based in Glebe in the 1960s and ’70s); and the Displays which included the wonderful illustrations and histories of the Villas of Glebe and Forest Lodge, pre-1870.

A storeroom within the Community Hall made an excellent theatrette where videos of works by local artists, and film biographies of Tom Uren and Jack Mundey were screened. A feature of the screenings was the Bernard Smith photo collection of Glebe from the early ’70s. Dramatic performances were directed by Lyn Collingwood and included ‘The Mayoral Procession’ – a whirlwind history of all the City of Sydney mayors since 1842 and ‘Glebe’s Colourful Characters A-Z’, a hilarious account of the crooks, politicians and bigwigs who have lived in Glebe.

In future editions of the Bulletin, organisers of the Festival events will reveal the efforts that went into making them a reality and share some of their behind-the-scenes stories. And thanks should go to Tarny Burton, the Society’s webmaster, who created the promotional material for the Festival and played a major role in planning and designing the website.