Although the unexpected number of attendees caused a few traffic issues along Burley Griffin Way, they were addressed by Hilltops Mayor Brian Ingram, who cut the wire fences and pitched in with directing traffic to lessen the delays.

Kite Festival President Nicole Scott said that the committee was totally caught by surprise at the unprecedented amount of traffic headed to the event.

“The event turned out to be much bigger than we were anticipating.” Mrs Scott said.

“We joked about doubling the numbers of attendees from last year, but then it actually happened!”

Mrs Scott said that the committee are meeting with Hilltops Council in the near future to make plans to ensure the traffic issue will be dealt with before next year’s event.

“We had people telling us that the traffic was banked back to Murrumburrah, and the same amount in the  Binalong direction.” Mrs Scott said. 

“There has to be a plan put in place to make sure this type of traffic hazzard does not happen again.”

Traffic issues aside, the committee were overjoyed at the success of the 2018 event.

“It was such a joy to see that with our multicultural theme, everyone was joining in and mixing together.” Mrs Scott said.

“There were just so many activities and a lot of them were put on by our community groups. We have to say a big thank you to all the groups who helped out on the day; they really rose to the occasion.”

Mrs Scott said she received some feedback from Mike Richards from ‘Kite Magic’ who attends the event every year; to say that Harden’s festival is one of their top two events – the other being Bondi.

“I think the whole town can be proud of the way we showcased Harden Murrumburrah and the Hilltops region.” Mrs Scott said.