That’s the philosophy when it comes to rebooting the town’s Art Deco Festival. 

Leeton Shire Council events and performing arts co-ordinator Alison Egan recently attended the Napier Art Deco Festival in New Zealand as part of a study and research tour. 

The idea was to gather as much information as possible at the festival and gain inspiration for Leeton’s festival. 

The last time the event was held in Leeton was in 2013, but council is looking to bring it back in a bigger capacity to really put the shire on the map. 

Mrs Egan said the trip to Napier had been an inspiring one. 

“It was such a fantastic event … it poured rain for most of the festival, but it didn’t bother anyone,” she said. 

“The crowds were still huge and the thing I loved was everyone dressed to the art deco period. 

“It didn’t matter if they weren’t taking part in the festival, they still had some sort of dress up on.”

Mrs Egan said the organisers of the event were only too happy to help. It has taken many years for the Napier festival to build up. 

“The idea would be if the event was started up again in Leeton that we would build it up to be a destination event,” Mrs Egan said. 

“The organisers in Napier were only too happy to meet with us … we actually met with them three times over the weekend. They were fantastic and were happy to share ideas.

“The interesting thing for me was the number of people there from places like Melbourne … if we can bring the festival back here and attract those people that would be great. 

“There’s obviously a lot of interest in art deco and we’ve definitely already got the foundations here.” Councillor George Weston also attended the festival at his own cost. 

“I was very impressed with it,” Cr Weston said. “I think it would be great to bring it back to Leeton and really build it up.”