By Bronwyn Hastings

The Wimmera’s biggest annual event, The Wimmera Machinery Field Days, again drew thousands of people to Longerenong, this year with headlining attractions Paw Patrol and big tractors. 

Field days committee president Vanessa Lenehan said Paw Patrol characters Chase, Marshall and Ryder brought a new crowd.

“Paw Patrol was really, really popular – the auditorium was absolutely chockers, we couldn’t have fitted another child in there,” she said.

“The characters brought people to the field days that wouldn’t necessarily come out here.”

Ms Lenehan said the committee would choose a theme for next year’s event, following the success and interest generated by this and last year’s themes.

“We had a lot of positive feedback about the big tractors,” she said.

“Catherine from Partners in Ag had a little one-page checklist of all the tractors on it that she’d designed for the kids.

“She had older farmers and people of all ages coming up and asking if they could have a checklist because they really wanted to get around and see them all.”

Ms Lenehan said having market square day on the Wednesday, rather than all three days, had worked well.

“Everyone can just focus on that one day and the market people know that it’s only for the one day,” she said.

“Unfortunately, it was the hottest day, so that might have deterred a few people. 

“We tried to do as much as we could to have cool areas for people across the site, including putting misters under marquees.”

Run by volunteers, the three-day event brings about $2-million and 10,000 people to the region, and benefits the whole community.

“There are so many community groups that aren’t involved in ag that benefit from running this event,” Ms Lenehan said.

“We have schools that come out and have a look and introduce kids to ag. 

“We have schools and local sporting clubs come out doing fundraising. We have the Scouts that will come through and do a big clean-up. 

“It’s just a massive community event – there’s so much benefit.”

Ms Lenehan said the committee was celebrating the success of the event.

“It’s a pretty big event for volunteers to run, and they’ve all done a really, really great job – we’re all very, very happy,” she said.

“During the event, you sort of walk around and you get a bit of a sense of pride for what a committee of volunteers can do if they all pull together and work towards a common goal.”

The entire March 12, 2025 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!