PORT FAIRY’S Village Green could be renamed Fiddler’s Green under a push by the Port Fairy Folk Festival committee.
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The space, in the centre of town, informally takes on the moniker Fiddler’s Green during the festival each March. A campaign has now begun to make it official.
The festival committee has written to clubs, service groups and other festivals that use the area to gauge support for a name change.
Committee vice-president John Young said the name change was one worth seeking public opinion on.
“We want to hear from as many members of the public that we can to get their thoughts of this idea,” Mr Young said.
“The Folk Festival is working in partnership with the Moyne Shire to construct a new permanent stage on the Village Green.
“We are hoping to have the stage ready for the Moyneyana Festival and we thought a name change might be a fitting way to usher in a new era of this important space.”
Mr Young said the name Fiddler’s Green had strong links with the festival but it also related to the seafaring past of the Port Fairy.
“There is a famous song called the Fiddler’s Green by John Connolly that has been performed many times at the festival that captures that connection to the sea that fits in very nicely,” he said.
Mr Young said he raised the idea with the Folk Festival committee who gave him a licence to pursue it further. One prominent Port Fairy resident backing the name change is Moyneyana Festival chairman Reg Harry.
“I think renaming it the Fiddler’s Green would be fantastic,” he said.
“It has been known as the Fiddler’s Green during the Folk Festival for many years now and I think it makes sense to make it a permanent thing.
“It is a bit more of an original name than the Village Green.”
The open space was officially named the Village Green by the Borough of Port Fairy in May 1991.
abrady@fairfaxmedia.com.au