After 36 glorious years of Bluesfest putting our region firmly on the map, a huge void is now a reality.
But the party shone through this Easter in many smaller venues with music and celebrations, thanks in part to our mayor’s encouragement.
And there’s another thing that promises to help distract and hold our enthusiasm, with year-round appeal and connectivity, and that is the much needed completion of our biggest stage of all, the 132km of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail.
Our remaining old rail corridor needs to be turned into a continuous trail of natural wonder for exploring one village’s stage to the next, then the next, with the prospects of lively cafes and pubs with music, arts and crafts galleries, stalls and shops.
With delightful forest sounds and magnificent sunlit settings to soak up in between these villages and towns to flood our memories, the trail will have us yearning to return for more.
This is a 365-day event annually, with start and end times and places being purely up to individuals or groups, by foot or bicycle.
No timetables.
But to achieve this brilliant regional asset, Byron Shire needs us to help rally our state and federal governments into action to fund this remaining transition for us all.
So to help, please take a moment to fill in this very short petition at https://bit.ly/4bBoWYs.
Numbers really matter, so let’s do this. Let’s connect our rail trail.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
