Cessnock residents are invited to come along to East End Oval for a free breakfast, prepared by the Rotary Club of Cessnock and Wine Country Lions Club, from 7.30am to 9.30am this Australia Day.

There will also be a live broadcast from 2CHR-FM radio, entertainment, face painting, information displays, jumping castle and stalls to keep you entertained – or you can just sit back and enjoy a relaxing breakfast.

After breakfast, all are invited to attend Cessnock City’s official Australia Day ceremony at East Cessnock Bowling Club.

The proceedings will kick off at 10am and will include an address by Australia Day ambassador Peter Herbert (see more below); a citizenship ceremony for a number of local residents and the announcement of Cessnock’s Australia Day award recipients.

With this year marking the Centenary of Anzac, there will be a special theme to the day with musical performances by Tara Naysmith and local high school students.

“Australia Day is a day to reflect on our national journey: acknowledge our past, rejoice in the present and look confidently to our future,” Cessnock Mayor Bob Pynsent said.

“Australia Day in Cessnock will be an enjoyable occasion for family members young and old and I invite everyone in our community to attend.”

Be sure to pack a hat and sunscreen and a comfy chair to sit on for the oval activities.

Council is taking applications for stallholders interested in attending the day. Full criteria and application forms are available from www.cessnock.nsw.gov.au.

For more information, call Gina Radford at the Mayor’s office on 4993 4210.

AMBASSADOR LOOKING FORWARD TO VISITING CESSNOCK

Peter Herbert has worked with the nation’s top comedians but this Australia Day, he is determined to discover Cessnock.

Mr. Herbert has been an Australia Day ambassador for more than six years and each year he visits a different rural area.

“I grew up in country Victoria and I like to visit country areas. The people are relaxed, friendly and just get on with things,” he said.

“Country areas are terrific havens for interesting projects and innovation.”

An accomplished writer and producer, Mr. Herbert worked with Mark Mitchell to create the well-known character ‘Con the Fruiterer’ for the television show The Comedy Company.

He has also produced the TV Week Logies with Steve Vizard as host and created the Melbourne Internat­ion­al Comedy Festival Charity Gala, which has been running for 20 years.

He has recently produced a two-part comedy documentary series for SBS about Middle Eastern stand-up comedy.

Mr. Herbert will be travelling to Cessnock with his wife Joanne.

It is their first visit to Cessnock and follows Australia Day trips to Narooma on the South Coast, Oberon near Bathurst and Coolamon in the Riverina region.

He will address Cessnock’s Australia Day ceremony at East Cessnock Bowling Club on Monday.

See more about Australia Day weekend in Cessnock here.