By Danielle Galvin
In the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, in a small town called Tongala, there are some amazing new additions the community has been working hard on.
For the first time ever, there’s a hay bale trail with 18 magnificent installations, spread out across the town just 20 minutes out of Echuca.
“The idea came about after a local mum painted hay bales of Bluey and Bingo with her children in the June school holidays,” Tyler Stagg, president of the Tongala Development Group explained.
“They gained quite a following online and lots of regional Victorians took the opportunity to visit them however Melbourne people weren’t able to visit due to the lockdown.
“We thought that coming out of lockdown lots of people would be looking for something exciting and new to do and so the hay bale trail idea was born.”
They are spread throughout the township.
Some have been painted by local artists, others by people who call themselves “creative mums”.
“Having a population of around 1900 I have been astounded by the level of talent that we have in our local community,” Mr Stagg said.
“Most of the reports that I have had back is that painting on the surface of a hay bale can be quite difficult to get used to, even for experienced artists, however the results have been amazing.
“We were also lucky enough to have Aunty Neva, a proud Wollithica woman of the Bangarang tribe and her Fijian husband Sevu paint an Indigenous inspired installation for us.”
The local kids, farmers and community have gotten on board.
“We have also been overwhelmed by support from local farmers who have only been too happy to lend their time and tractors moving the hay bales about,” he said.
“It has certainly been a huge community effort.”
Keep up to date here – Facebook page (Tongala Hay Bale Trail) and Instagram (@tongala_hay_bale_trail). We are also encouraging people to share their photos using #tongalahaybaletrai
