Inaugural Ride the Wave Festival raises $10,000 for Make A Difference Port Macquarie

The three-day surf, skate and music fundraising festival, held on June 18 to 20, provided an economic boost for the town, while raising funds for Make A Difference Port Macquarie.

Organiser Erin Denham said the feedback from the community has been overwhelmingly positive.

"It went really well, despite the bad weather we had on the Saturday," she said.

"From our perspective it was a great inaugural event and was well received by locals and out of town visitors.

"We're still balancing the books, but we're looking at around $10,000 that will go to Make A Difference Port Macquarie."

Make A Difference Port Macquarie is run by volunteers and their mission is to support disadvantaged and marginalised people on the Mid North Coast.

Each year the group set fundraising goals to allow them to continue their work. In 2020 their mobile food van assisted in delivering a food service to people living rough on the streets while also assisting with bushfire relief in Willawarrin.

"We were hoping to raise more than we did, but we're happy with what we did raise, which will be going towards purchasing a food trailer to make it easier to supply the disadvantaged in our community with meals," Erin said.

"Getting the food trailer up and running is around a $30,000 project and we're confident we'll have it ready to go over the next few months."

Organisers are already planning ahead for next year's Ride the Wave Festival.

"We will be pushing ahead next year and will hopefully have an even bigger event for people to enjoy," Erin said.

"We're looking at having a five-day surfing roster which will include longboarding and bodyboarding as well as extending the music over two days."

Organisers of the inaugural Ride the Wave Festival would like to thank the community for getting on board and supporting the event.

"We would really like to thank the community because an event like this doesn't happen without you.

"All of the money that we raise at Make A Different Port Macquarie goes back into the community and being able to purchase a food trailer will be very welcome for us and members of the community."

Find out more about the work Make A Difference Port Macquarie does by visiting their website.

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