“It was a fantastic weekend full of great community spirit and plenty of visitors,” he said.

“We had hoped for a great turnout of local people but it was much better then we expected.”

While Friday morning saw reasonable crowds, temperatures in the mid 40s combined with wind and dust that afternoon meant people were looking for a shady spot or their air-conditioned home.

However, Saturday saw big crowds throughout the town.

“Stall holders reported good sales,” Mr Grigg said.

“And there were so many new faces from right around the region it was wonderful to see the spirit and the sense of community.”

Mr Grigg reported visitors from Wagga Wagga, Bendigo and Ballarat in Victoria and “there was even a couple who told me they had come from Queensland because they loved what Bega was doing”.

While there were good audiences at the talks held in the council chambers and the ABC outside broadcast, the biggest crowd was at the High Noon debate at St John’s Anglican Church hall.

It was standing room only as over 200 people crammed in to hear Clean Energy for Eternity spokesman Matthew Nott debate local skeptic Rob High on climate change.

Facts and figures as well as plenty of differing opinions flew around the room with the end result being a debate that, to the independent observer, was closer than many thought.

On Saturday Bega District News’ stand was popular with kids lined up three deep to have their face painted and a free balloon.

The generations mixed well, according to Mr Grigg.

“It was just terrific to see all ages enjoying their time together,” he said.

“And that was particularly evident at the Rotary Fun Fair on Sunday where the crowds really enjoyed the day.”

Mr Grigg said the committee had learnt a few lessons for next year’s festival and is looking for any other ideas people may have.

“We’ve locked in the same dates and we’ll be including the Blessing of the Herd and make it all bigger and better than ever,” he said.

“Everyone has seen how great it is when we work together so this could be the start of something really big.”