Bright business owners in Barnard Street have been working on an exciting project to bring tourism into town over the winter period.
After recently forming a committee, the inaugural two-day 'Winter in the Village' festival will take place over the last weekend in July.
Attendees can soak up the atmosphere a small village offers with intimate shopping experiences, string-lit streets, food vendors, live music, fire pits and lots of fun activities for the family.
"Two months of planning have gone really well," committee member Amanda Hore said.
"Our committee is enthusiastic...we're looking forward for this festival to be a stepping stone for future events.
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"All the traders in Barnard Street have come on board.
"They'll hold a number of different attractions over the two days, such as paper plane competitions and serve mulled wine and hot chocolates and so on.
"The reason we're putting this on is to show everyone how beautiful Bright is...it's not just a gateway to the snowfields.
"We decided to call it the 'Winter in the Village' festival because we all know Bright is a beautiful village, so we'd love to invite lots of people to visit."
Event organiser, Emma Evans, said the festival is mainly about bringing the community together to celebrate 'Christmas in July'.
"The owner of the Christmas store 'Making Spirits Bright', Amanda Ralph does Christmas in July every year," Ms Evans said.
"We've transformed this idea into a Winter Festival and centralised it for this year around Barnard Street and the Clocktower, with a chance to grow.
"Things are going really well in the lead up to the festival and store holders will update everyone with the finer details of what they will be doing on social media as part of final preparations, so keep your eyes peeled."
Committee members said they are really excited to host the first festival.
"Eventually we'd like to emulate a number of European towns who hold festivals during their winter months," co-owner of Journey and Lolly Polly Do Dah, Dene Freeland said.
"Hopefully this festival will turn into something big."
On Friday, 25 July, the festivities will run from 5pm to 8pm, including late night shopping, the Bright Singers will perform Christmas carols under string lights illuminating the street and Father Christmas will launch the festival at ‘Making Spirits Bright’ and will be available for photos with families of all ages.
"We're having a fashion parade at Tigre Vita on Friday night," manager of the Star Road Trader, Ruth Meighan said.
"The show starts at 6pm with a DJ, canapes and drinks on arrival."
Tickets are $55 and available at the Alpine Hotel or online via: https://tinyurl.com/mryach8k
Starting from 4.30pm until 8pm on Saturday, 26 July, there will be a snow machine for the kids, live performances and music, food vendors and a secret judge to announce the winner of the best dressed for the night: so don’t forget to wear your ugliest Christmas jumper or best winter outfit.
Celebrations will continue throughout Sunday until 3pm, with fabulous offers and retail discounts for attendees.
Looking ahead to 2026 the committee would love to collaborate more widely with the other retailers, to create a festival that reflects all that Bright has to offer.
