The program for Words in Winter looks promising. It starts today in Clunes, tomorrow in Daylesford, and in Trentham and Creswick later in the month.

Some of those involved in organising the first Words in Winter – which was then restricted to one weekend in Daylesford – had doubts that a ‘celebration of words’ would appeal to the local community, let alone weekend visitors. It’s now in its eighth year and spans a month.

There were also concerns about the prohibitively high cost of public insurance for a group of events bundled up as a festival. Fortunately, there was a retired insurance expert on hand who advised that if the committee changed the name from ‘festival’ to ‘celebration’, they could side-step the costly premium.

I’m not sure if that rule still applies but if you’re thinking of organising a community event in Victoria, click here for all the gen on insurance.

In the second year of Words in Winter, organisers attempted to raise sponsorship by talking to B&B owners. The organisers reasoned that tourism operators would stand to gain from staging the festival during August. The tourism operators countered that they they’d have visitors anyway, with or without the festival.

Some of the larger operators came forward and generously assisted, as did the real estate agents of the town. It was largely due to their help that Words in Winter’s first organising committee could publish a printed program. It ran to a dozen pages.

This ‘veritable crucible and contributor to the cultural life of Hepburn Springs’ now has more sponsors that you can poke a thesaurus at, and a 30-page program that’s packed with events organised by ‘a plethora of passionate people eager to participate and please…’

It’s set to be a bonza gabfest, abounding in beaut lingo and filled with the sort of talk you won’t hear down the pub unless it’s one of those listed in the Words in Winter program.

I’ve earmarked a few events, including Meet the Author: Catherine Deveny. If her columns in The Age are anything to go by, she’ll be a riot.