Autumn Festival

Back by popular demand, the Autumn Pie & Tart Trail will be a feature of the 2023 program. It’s easy to get involved in this initiative by completing a simple submission form in section below.

New Tipple Trail itineraries will encourage visitor dispersal, and discovery of our country pubs, breweries, distillery and cellar doors, providing further opportunities for these businesses to get involved.

Council will also facilitate three Welcome to Country events, bring back The Gardeners puppets to our farmers markets, and curate autumn-inspired driving itineraries and competitions, all to be featured on a dedicated Autumn Festival website.

To create a festival atmosphere, we are also asking businesses to get on board by decorating their shopfronts with an autumn-theme throughout April and promote their involvement in the festival.

Traffic management measures and extra amenities will be in place throughout April to support residents and safely guide visitors eager to witness the Macedon Ranges’ stunning autumn leaves.

Find out more

Before submitting your event or activity via the visitmacedonranges.com event portal to be featured on a dedicated 2023 Autumn Festival website event program, please ensure it meets the below criteria for a tourism audience. We also encourage you to consider how you can collaborate with other businesses when creating an experience for the program.

What is a suitable event or activity

• Appeals to a broad audience that are visiting the region for leisure purposes.
• Art exhibitions in a dedicated art gallery/exhibition space.
• Live music in a tourist venue or outdoor space (particularly if combined with an autumn-themed menu or drink special (eg. ‘Craft Beer & Blues’, ‘Harpist & Devonshire Teas, ‘Cider & Soul Tunes’, ‘Pinot, Paella & Jazz’).
• Ticketed food and drink experiences (eg. Winemaker dinners, high teas).
• Special interest trails (eg. open art studio trails, open garden trails, gin tasting trails, country pub tours).
• Guided nature experiences.
• Autumn-themed special interest workshops (eg. Silver leaf jewellery making, ceramic fermenting pot making, autumn-themed painting workshop).
• Markets.
• Tours curated specifically for the festival (ie. don’t usually run year-round).

What is not a tourism event

• Events aimed at the local community rather than a broad visitor audience (eg. School music concerts, fetes).
• Retail sales and promotions.
• Community, craft and Art Collective exhibitions in shops, cafes, libraries and community halls.

Want to run an idea past us?

Get in touch with Nicole at npietrusckha@mrsc.vic.gov.au

Community-orientated events

Although the Autumn Festival’s event program is curated around tourism experiences, Council also support community-focused events on our shire website ‘What’s On’ page.

Upload your community event listing here. 

Events and activities must be submitted as soon as possible. If you are still setting up your ticket booking link or haven’t quite finalised your event times or program, you can still submit the event with ‘more details to come soon’. The sooner we receive event submissions and finalise the program, the sooner we can shift our focus on to promoting the festival to generate high visitation.

Have a question? Please reach out to Nicole at npietruschka@mrsc.vic.gov.au or call (03) 5422 0333 for advice.

There are two options for submitting your event online.

To be included on the program, your event or activity will need to appeal to a visitor audience and meet set criteria. 

Organisers are encouraged to schedule their events and activities from 7-23 April 2023 when locals and visitors have more time to explore during the school holidays.

For ticketed events, please ensure 50% of your tickets are still available by 14 February to ensure we are not promoting already booked out events in the main lead up to the festival.

Please note: To get the most out of the promotional period, submit your event by the end of November. Late submissions won’t get the same promotional coverage.

If you already have a business listing on visitmacedonranges.com

1. Enter the Operator Admin dashboard, type in your user name and password, then go to ‘My Events’ > ‘Create a New Event’.
   
   

2. Fill in all your event information including quality images (.jpeg or .png files without text overlays), a descriptive text about your event that will excite and inform visitors, relevant booking links, dates and times.

3. Submit for approval.

Can’t remember your password? There is a password reset button available.

If you still have issues logging into your account, email visitmacedonranges@mrsc.vic.gov.au or call (03) 5422 0333.

If you don’t have a business listing on visitmacedonranges.com

1. First you need to create a profile.
   
   

2. Once you have filled this online form in, you will receive an identify validation email that you need to click on. Please check your junk folder if you don’t see it.

3. Next step is to enter the Operator Admin dashboard. This link can be found anytime in the footer menu of visitmacedonranges.com called ‘Operator Admin’.
   
   
4. Go to ‘My Events’ > ‘Create a New Event’.
   
   
5. Fill in all your event information including quality images (.jpeg or .png files without text overlays), a descriptive text about your event that will excite and inform visitors, relevant booking links, dates and times.
   
   
6. Submit for approval.

Need assistance? Email visitmacedonranges@mrsc.vic.gov.au or call (03) 5422 0333.

We are now taking submissions from bakeries, pubs, cafes and restaurants to add an autumn-themed pastry to the 2023 Pie & Tart Trail.

Submissions are due as soon as possible as we are working on an illustrated Pie & Tart Trail Map with an index of venues. Promotion for the festival will begin as early as February. 

Upload your pie or tart now

A huge thank you to all our sponsors for the 2023 Autumn Festival.

Gold Sponsors: Victorian State Government, Bendigo Bank, Riddells Creek Nursery, Kyneton on Riverside and Daylesford Macedon Tourism

Crimson Sponsor: Braeside Mt Macedon Country Retreat

Bronze Sponsors: Relax Holiday Rentals, Big Tree Distillery, Country Canvases, Fook Shing, Woodend General, Rafael’s Coffee, Piper Street Food Co., The Victoria Hotel and Kyneton Ridge Estate.

Council no longer has access to the State Government-funded Outdoor Activation Fund that supported COVID recovery in 2022, as that funding stream no longer exists. All events will need to be self-funded.

If you require funding support to hold your event, we recommend you check out this Find a Grant web page.

Make sure you subscribe to the Autumn Festival eNews to stay in the loop on key event developments and announcements for 2023. 

Get access to social media images and videos, an e-signature graphic and key messaging for the Autumn Festival.

Download the kit