Thousands of residents flocked to Open Streets festival
Published on 21 September 2026
Thousands of residents and visitors attended Nambucca Valley Open Streets festival in Macksville on Saturday where headline musicians such as Amellia Rose & The Collective rocked and the fireshow and fireworks dazzled.
Nambucca Valley Mayor Gary Lee said this festival, which was the third in the Open Streets series, was stamped by the ideas of the Nambucca Valley Youth Council.
“I was extremely proud of the youth in the Nambucca Valley Youth Council for shaping this festival with a light theme,” he said.
“River Street in Macksville, Wallace Lane and Princess Street came alive with light and laser installations and fire shows. Then the Nambucca River was lit up with a superb display of fireworks at the end of the wonderful afternoon.
“Other local youth really seized the opportunity to showcase their skills as well, with Valley Performing Arts Centre dancers expertly performing on River Stage and Macksville Public School and Bowraville Central School students providing hand-made street art.
“The festival definitely had a sustainable environmental theme as well, with OzGREEN delivering a river bug discovery activity and Council and MidWaste doing a chia house activity, using recycled cardboard to create model homes topped with living green roofs.
“I would like to thank the festival’s event manager, Joel Grimson of Good Crew, everyone who came along to support the festival, and the Macksville Ex-Services Club for providing sponsorship for Saturday’s event. The festival was delivered through funding from the NSW Government and I thank our State Government representatives for their investment in our valley as well.”
The Nambucca Valley Open Streets festival was attended by an estimated 3500-4000 people and it ran from 3-9pm on Saturday 19 September.
Nambucca Valley Open Streets Festival is proudly funded by the NSW Government’s Open Streets Program 2025-28, led by Transport for NSW. Council was successful in receiving $350,000 through the Open Streets Program over three years. For more information about the program, visit its webpage here.
Nambucca Valley Council has funding to deliver one more festival in 2027.
ALL MEDIA ENQUIRIES TO:
Mr David Moloney
ACTING GENERAL MANAGER
02 6568 2555
DATE: 21 September 2026