Community
18 April, 2025
Cheers to ideas
IF you’ve got a cool idea to make Warrnambool a more vibrant and fun place, Cheers to Ideas has the funding to help make it happen.
Cheers to Ideas is the new iteration of the popular Beers and Ideas program which ran from 2017 to 2019.
Presenters will have five minutes each to pitch their idea to an audience.
The audience, who pay $15 to attend, vote for their favourite idea. The winning presenter will receive the ticket money from the night to make their idea happen, which will be matched by the Warrnambool City Council up to $1500.
The first Cheers to Ideas event will be held on Wednesday, June 25 at a venue to be announced soon, with submissions to present now open.
Warrnambool mayor Cr Ben Blain said that placemaking was about creating spaces where people wanted to spend time.
“It’s all about creating a connection between people and places - using places to help people better connect with each other,” he said.
“At council we know the importance of placemaking, and how lots of small things can contribute to a larger sense of belonging.
“While a lot of the examples recently have been in the CBD, Cheers to Ideas is open to suggestions from any part of the municipality, so if you have a fun and simple idea to make your neighbourhood that little bit better, Cheers to Ideas is how you can bring it to life.”
Noni Brislin was the winner of the penultimate Beers and Ideas event with her Winter Arcade Festival, and while COVID-19 scuppered her plans, she is excited to be on the committee for Cheers to Ideas.
“Cheers to Ideas is a reiteration of what people have been doing here for thousands of years really, which is creating a sense of familiarity and belonging within your own community,” she said.
“People want to feel a part of something and that’s what I love about what placemaking does, whether it’s seeing a mural on a wall or a little mural pop on a bus stop, whether it’s a pop-up activity, seeing someone dressed up in costume inexplicably walking down the street or hearing music coming from a laneway.
“I love that that means something not just to the person who’s created it but to everyone else who is experiencing it.”
She said that ideas could come from anywhere, and it was the goal of Cheers to Ideas to give people the confidence and the capital to pursue them.
“So if you hear someone at work or at home saying, ‘wouldn’t it be great if?’ tell them about this.
“Don’t feel overwhelmed that your idea needs to be something really huge. It can be something small and almost surprising.
“It’s really fun being on either side of this so if you don’t have an idea, still come along because it’s going to be just an absolute melting pot of ideas.”
For more information and to submit your idea, visit www.warrnambool.vic.gov.au/cheers-ideas.
