REVIEW: The "FACE" OF KING ISLAND - a HUGE SUCCESS - and we did the bird surveys as well!

The inaugural FACE of King Island (Festival of Art, Culture and Environment) set a new scene for April on King Island 2019. It was inspiring, thought provoking, entertaining and FUN! It also raised significant funds for on-going bird conservation on King Island.

Locals and visitors alike attended art exhibition openings and auctions, a concert and poetry reading and as it turned out, a bit of song and dance while we were at it. Contributing artists included Michael Leunig whose cartoon 'Healing Bird' received the top bid of $1700, Simon Denny a New Zealander who lives in Germany, Anthony Albrecht a renowned cellist who traveled from London to play, our poet Jack Oats came from NSW as well as many of our own talented locals who submitted their works, food and provided hospitality.

This Festival was largely driven and undertaken by volunteers with support of the King Island Council and Cultural Centre. The King Island Natural Resource Management Group provided the theme and focus, receives the funds and will manage them wisely and effectively to achieve bird conservation on King Island.

Thanks are due to SOOO many people but a very special thanks go to Marilyn and Ken Chapman at

the Portside Links Gallery where the majority of events took place. Thanks too to Emma Little, Andrew and Dianne Blake, Alison Milsom, King Island Diary, Brewers Cafe, Salt and Thyme. All the other myriad of people involved, take a quiet bow to yourselves. Together we did an amazing job - just as you would expect from our wonderful King Island community.

And while all the excitement of the last week of FACE was underway, the Wings on King bird surveys were successfully completed by an intrepid group of 18 who braved the weather! Surveyors came from the Northern Territory, NSW and Victoria as well as our own local birders. A great job done.

The next FACE is planned to be held in April, 2021. If you are interested in being involved, start thinking about it now and watch this space for more information about the theme, whom you should contact and when.