The second Bega Town Block Party has brought the community together for an afternoon of everything festive.
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There was music, all you could eat pizza, Santa, and for some small businesses the event offered something beyond the usual.
2pi Software developer Issac Lynnah joined Chris Bateman at the company’s stall offering a virtual reality experience.
Mr Lynnah said for almost all the children it was their first time donning a headset and entering the virtual reality world.
“There was a constant line of kids, and next time we could expand into also having adult interests. More and more we’re offering opportunities for kids to get involved with digital literacy and engage in the space. In a place like Bega they’ve never had a chance to use it before,” he said.
Involvement in other festivals this year has lead to interested children being offered free courses in Amazon Web Services Cloud Computing Services, which company founder Liam O'Duibhir has said could create job opportunities in the Bega Valley.
The Hub’s Jess Dwyer and Amanda Twyford said music by local group Cabec had created a “relaxed” environment for late night shoppers.
“Stuff like this should happen more often. People really like to relax and shop,” Ms Dwyer said.
Get On The Table’s Brendon White said the afternoon brings the entire Bega community to one place.
“In this day and age everyone is online, but at the block party everyone is there to talk to and interact with. It’s a good thing to do for a small business owner, and it’s good advertising because we don’t have a lot of money to work with,” he said.