dotheyarravalley.com.au

 After a successful first year in 2010, Healesville Amateur Race Club Committee is once again delighted to announce the second, annual community music festival at the Healesville Picnic Race Course, bringing an eclectic collection of talented artists, great food & wine, local breweries and much more for Music At The Healesville Track 2011.

The festival kicks off at 12 noon, winding up at around 8pm and allows locals and visitors to the Yarra Valley, a lazy Sunday afternoon in beautiful surroundings, listening to great
music and sampling the delights of local produce, wine and beer makers. It’s a chance to bring along the family and friends and relax in the afternoon sunshine, while enjoying
everything Healesville has to offer.

‘A lot of work in getting to this stage for the 2011 festival but to manage to get artists of this caliber, all together at one community event, in our own backyard for a paltry entrance fee,
and in one of the most beautiful settings you would find in the Yarra Valley, together with great drink and food, yeah I’m bloody excited and Nov 20th I reckon can’t come round quick enough!!’ Chris Young – MATHT Festival Director.

Tasmanian born Monique Brumby is an accomplished guitarist, singer and prolific songwriter and record producer with 5 studio albums and 2 Arias to her name. Her trademark though is her live performance skills honed over many years, whether playing solo or with her band. This year Monique and her 5-piece band join the already impressive Healesville line up where she will make it her mission to connect with her audience and give them her heart and soul in performance. Monique has toured with The Bangles, Paul Kelly, The Stranglers, Luka Bloom, Shaun Colvin and Jeff Buckley just to name a few.

For more info, please visit the website @ www.musicatthehealesvilletrack.com.au

And remember music At The Healesville Track is a community festival, run by dedicated volunteers and all profits from the day go back in to the race club, to assist with its many community projects.

For Tickets click on the following Moshtix Link: http://www.moshtix.com.au/event.aspx?id=49723

Adults: $35 (Concessions available)
Children 14 to 18: $15
Under 14: free (Free Children’s entertainment)
Family Ticket: $85

Plus booking fee on all ticket prices Or available from the Grind and groove and Sanctuary Lotto in Healesville and The Yarra Junction Post Office or will be available at the gate on the day.
BYO drinks and food or reasonably priced food and drink available on site (No glass).
Healesville Race Course, Chum Creek Road, Healesville (Melways 275 C1)
Gates open Midday – 8pm

For further information on the festival, sponsorship opportunities, food and market stalls, please contact Chris Young chris@densal.com.au .

For media enquires, please contact Chrissie Vincent Publicity  chrissiev@cvp.net.au

The winners of the 2010 RACV Tourism Awards were announced this week and the Yarra Valley was well represented with Rochford Wines winning the award for the best Tourism Winery. Other winners included Myers Creek Cascades in Healesville who won the Peoples Choice award for service, Trees Adventure received a Merit award for new business and De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate received a Merit award in the Tourism Wineries category. Do The Yarra Valley enjoyed a morning tea at Rochford to celebrate with some of the winners. Watch the video of the event below.

The Victorian Tourism Awards have assisted the Victorian Tourism Industry in striving for excellence. During its 26 year history, more than 3,000 businesses have entered the Awards and have benefited through thorough examination of their business practice, with many recognised as winners at a national level.

In our first year of operation we have only just scratched the surface of what the Yarra Valley has to offer. We’re looking forward to featuring more places, more people, and more of what makes the Yarra Valley such a unique and special place.

As we embark on a new season of Do the Yarra Valley, we plan to kick off the year with a competition where you will have the opportunity to win a Yarra Valley holiday that includes accommodation, dining and some amazing Yarra Valley activities. So stay tuned for updates and new stories and don’t forget to tell your friends about Do The Yarra Valley.

Watch the Season 2 Promo video below.

Spring is in the air and the Yarra Valley Concert season has begun. The 15th Annual Good Weekend Opera in the Vineyards was an event to be remembered, if not for the splendour of the period costumes and the superb voices, certainly for the appalling weather.  Due to the unpredictability of the weather the opera is held, not in the open as you may imagine, but rather in a very substantial marquis.

Maestro Brian Castles-Onion headed the bill and set the tone for the evening with his witty and faced paced commentary. Castles-Onion is one of Australia’s most exciting and well known conductors. He takes delight in stripping Opera of its mystique and in so doing makes it  accessible even for the uninitiated.

Gracing the stage were highly talented singers, Joshua Bloom, Tarita Carbo, Lorina Gore and Sally-Anne Russell. The clarity and beauty of their voices is impossible to describe in words. Watch the video below and hear for yourself.

The Yarra Glen Art Show is now on at Alowyn Gardens, located 3.5km north of Yarra Glen on the Melba Highway. This is the first time Alowyn Gardens has hosted the show. The exhibition is in a large marquee in the ‘Maple Courtyard’, which is adjacent to the Main Gardens.

Watch our video below as Tania takes a tour of the show and talks to Heather Smith from the organising committee.

April 2 – 5; Good Friday to Easter Monday

Open 10am – 5pm daily

For full details visit the Yarra Glen Art Show Website:

When it comes to offering activities and entertainment in the Yarra Valley it’s hard to beat Rochford Wines!

After a string of big name concerts on the green including, Rob Thomas, Tom Jones and Dianna Krall, Rochford’s latest event featuring hundreds of Hot Rods was a huge success.

Hot Rods on the Green was organised by the Eagles Hot Rod & Custom Club of Victoria and attracted some of the best vehicles from around the country. We spoke to Steve Bridges from the organising panel, who told us the average value of the Hot Rods on show was around $75,000. These mobile works of art, as Steve prefers to call them, are the result of their passionate owners investing hundreds of hours in their restoration. The results are very very impressive. There’s nothing quite like a highly polished Hot Rod parked on a grass field in one of the most picturesque locations in the Yarra Valley. Watch our video interviews as the owners tell us about their cars.

For more information on Rochford Wine events visit their website.

Take a bunch of passionate motorcycle enthusiasts from all over Australia, get them to bring their most prized possessions to the Healesville Racecourse, and you’ve got the 2010 Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club National Rally.

The VJMC is a worldwide club with 4 separate branches in North America, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. The Australian branch is a non-profit community association operated by a committee of volunteers.  According to their website the objective of the club is to, “foster the preservation, restoration, riding and enjoyment of ownership of Japanese motorcycles more than 15 years old.”

Watch our video for interviews with some of the club members as they talk about what makes their bikes unique.

If you like this article then read our Hot Rods on the Green story.

For more information about the club visit their website…

The Yarra Glen Artshow will be held at Alowyn Gardens, located 3.5km north of Yarra Glen on the Melba Highway. This is the first time Alowyn Gardens has hosted the show. The exhibition will be in a large marquee in the ‘Maple Courtyard’, which is adjacent to the Main Gardens.

Watch our video below as Tania talks to Prue Van de Linde from Alowyn Gardens about what visitors can expect over the four days of the show.

Entry to the ‘Maple Courtyard’ is free.

April 2 – 5; Good Friday to Easter Monday

Open 10am – 5pm daily

For full details visit the Yarra Glen Art Show Website: