Esperance Wildflower Festival concluded five days of events, displays and activities on Saturday, mostly held at Esperance Civic Centre and St Andrew’s Anglican church hall.
Granite: A Treasury of Plants and Culture was the theme.
Tjaltjraak native title group hosted the festival for the first time, taking over from Esperance Community Arts which had managed it for several years.
The central display of more than 60 freshly picked wildflower species from various parts of the shire occupied the Civic Centre reception room along with Wudjari Noongar cultural artefacts.
Artists Sharyn Egan, Colleen Frost held open studios, with workshops by Esperance Wildflower Society representative Ken Mills and Boodja Dwordak Wim in community lantern design.
Guest speakers included Dr Shelley James and Kylie Sadgrove from WA Herbarium; UWA professor Stephen Hopper; Traditional Owners Hayleigh Graham, Zoe Bullen and Jennell Reynolds; and author Prof. Tim Flannery.
The festival overlapped with the inaugural Esperance Hiking Festival, providing an opportunity for a Thursday morning plants and culture tour of Dempster Head with Tjaltjraak Rangers and Prof. Hopper.
Performances included the Esperance Community Singers on Wednesday, and on Saturday Esperance Brass Band and Esperance Community Singers.
