High-fives for 20 years

The Dunsborough Arts Festival will celebrate its 20th anniversary next weekend.

When the festival began in 2000, the art market included 20 stalls, workshops and music by the Busselton High School Band organised by local artists Mandy Evans and Annette Colman.

The festival has grown in popularity and now includes a junior X-Factor talent competition and the popular Sculptures By the Bay exhibit.

Dunsborough Progress Association president Jacquie Happ is pictured with volunteer assistants Stuart Sibbald and Llewyn Green. said the festival had grown to become a feature of the WA art scene thanks to the efforts of more than 100 volunteers.

“It was a very humble beginning for a festival that today attracts crowds of around ten thousand people over the three days,” she said.

“It is the little Festival that just grew and grew, and it has slowly morphed into a major feature on the West Australian art scene. It provides a great avenue for both local artists and for artists from other areas of WA to show and sell their work.”

The festival begins on Saturday, February 29.