UPDATE:

To the incredible Belgrave lantern family, we are sad to have to announce that this year’s lantern festival will need to be postponed. This decision has been made in the interest of public safety. The good news is the event will happen. A time and date have yet to be confirmed but we anticipate it won’t be too long. In the meantime, just like last year, we are assembling dozens of lantern-making kits that can be ordered online and picked up from specific sites across the hills for $15
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/.../pyramid-lantern-kits...
If you wish for your lantern to be exhibited please drop them off at Two Floors in the week starting June 14.
Expect to see lanterns new and old adorning the windows of our main street very soon. We thank you all for your patience, kindness, and support.


Belgrave Lantern Festival is our next Creative Organisation to be awarded a FREE month of On Air Announcements, as part of Community Grants funded by Yarra Ranges Council.
 

The Belgrave Lantern Festival is so well loved in the community and has totally been put at risk by the Covid-19 pandemic, but it is happening in 2021!! 

It will be a night of light, entertainment and fun featuring activated spaces and creative precinct ‘pop ups’ in streets, alleyways, arcades, nooks and crannies.

Expect a riot of art, music, workshops, circus arts, DJ’s, bands, solo artists, food, fire-pits and more.
June 19 from 6-8pm for more details including a map of the activated spaces, check out the Belgrave Lantern Festival Facebook page.
 
If you're a local creative individual, team, organisation or business, or you support the creative industries, and you're interested in having a free campaign, you can find out all the details here: http://ow.ly/w9zO50EBoId

There seems to be a flurry of activity with program changes at 3MDR.
 
Last month we saw Pilot The Dune with Francis moving from Thursday nights to Monday 8pm and Daniel’s Do You Thing moving forward to 9pm on Thursdays.
 
Here’s a quick update on what’s happening with the weekly schedule of 3MDR’s programs broadcast by our wonderful volunteers:
 
Waxoid with Matt will be moving to 3pm on Tuesdays, leading into the Music Garden.
 
Uncut & Unsigned, which has been on Wednesdays, will be returning to the airwaves in at the new time of 1-3pm on Tuesdays  slotting in between Alphabet Soup and the newly moved Waxoid.
 
Slingsby’s Miscellany, which has run for a year in the Random Acts timeslot 9am Tuesdays, will now be its own show, with Random Acts moving to some other random time somewhere in the week.
 
EcLeCtIcA is taking a break from Saturdays 4-6pm and we look forward to Lou Lou’s return later in the year.
 
Wal from Independent Country is taking a winter hiatus and will be returning in September to spin all those independent country music tunes.
 
Speaking of country music... We’re hoping Smiley will be able to return his Saturday Morning Country program in June, as we know you’ve been missing Smiley’s inimitable broadcasting style!
 
3MDR’s Program Committee volunteers have been working overtime and some new programs are in the pipeline, so stay tuned to 97.1fm where’s there’s a little something for everyone!!!

Local musician Glenn Ford is our next Creative to be awarded a FREE month of On Air Announcements, as part of Grants for Community funded by Yarra Ranges Council.

" I'm looking to engage anyone in the hills area who is interested in learning guitar, doesn't matter about age or skills, experience etc, just people who are keen and are looking for a fun and relaxed approach to learning guitar. I want to give people the tools to play what they want to hear and what makes them enjoy music as that is the way to develop a lasting relationship with your instrument. It's got to be fun!"
 
Head to glennfordmusic.com for more information and book your first lesson today!

If you're a local creative individual, team, organisation or business, or you support the creative industries, and you're interested in having a free campaign, you can find out all the details here: http://ow.ly/w9zO50EBoId

Leaf Studios is our next Creative Collective to be awarded a FREE month of On Air Announcements, as part of Grants for Community funded by Yarra Ranges Council.

"We are six studio sisters who call the frequently foggy hills of the Dandenong Ranges home.  You can find us and our little shop at “Leaf Studios”, nestled in sleepy, leafy Kallista.  Sharing the space between six artists makes for a creative hub. With a central room used for a retail store and shared communal space, it’s perfect for collaborations and workshops.
 
You can find our website here leafstudios.com.au/ and we are on Instagram as Leaf at Kallista and Facebook as Leaf Studios."


If you're a local creative individual, team, organisation or business, or you support the creative industries, and you're interested in having a free campaign, you can find out all the details here: http://ow.ly/w9zO50EBoId

A rather thrilling post appeared on our socials feed last week...

Written by Phoebe Lett and published in The New York Times, it named The Saltgrass Podcast as one of five audio journeys of climate storytelling to listen to in order to begin to understand the climate crisis.  <<Read the full article here >>

Produced by Allie Hanly in Castlemaine, regional Victoria, Saltgrass is a collection of radio and podcast series all themed around the climate crisis and how grassroots movements are creating change.  You can listen to Saltgrass every Monday at 9am on 3MDR, or check out the current, and previous, series' here.

Tamminya House is our fourth Community Group to be awarded a FREE month of On Air Announcements, as part of a COVID-19 Recovery Project funded by Yarra Ranges Council.

"Tamminya House helps homeless single parent families feel safe and sheltered. But there's always more to be done.  Our hope is that the 3MDR campaign would help us raise some much needed funds to repair and improve our crisis accommodation. As you can see from photos we desperately need to repaint the outside of the building, and the bench is our current cooking facility, we would love to build a proper communal kitchen but we need funds to do so. We would like to invite the public to assist us in this matter by them helping us we can help others.

For more information about Tammimya House and how you can help, visit their website HERE.

If your community group is interested in having a free campaign, you can find out all the details here: http://ow.ly/mTsM50DZOKE

From Monday 26th April 2021, Pilot The Dune with DJ Francis With Wolves and Do Your Thing with Daniel are changing timeslots.

Pilot The Dune will be moving to Mondays 8-9pm and Do Your Thing with Daniel will move into the Thursday 9-10pm timeslot.

Presenting radio on 3MDR is a passion for the dedicated volunteers and sometimes other commitments such as work, schooling and family can get in the way.   The station tries to accommodate movements in programming to fit in with the busy lives of the volunteers wherever possible.

We'd also like to thank Clint & Cathy of Breakfast w/ Clint & Cathy fame as they have recently retired from broadcasting their award winning show on 3MDR.   We're not sure how they did it but for several years, every Friday morning Clint & Cathy managed to get many a musician on the phone or in the studio for interviews and live performances.

Lou Lou's EcLeCtIcA on Saturdays 4-6pm is also taking a short break.  We wish Lou Lou all the very best and look forward to her return to the studio to present the diverse range of under represented genres of music that EcLeCtIcA is renowned for.

The 3MDR volunteer Program Committee is currently processing new applications we look forward to introducing new programs to the weekly grid in the very near future.

Thanks for supporting your local community radio station and we hope you continue to enjoy the diversity of programs presented by the volunteers on 3MDR 97.1fm

Goodwill Collective are our third Community Group to be awarded a FREE month of On Air Announcements, as part of a COVID-19 Recovery Project funded by Yarra Ranges Council.

"Goodwill Collective provides free specialist skills to support organisations that are already doing good. We want to help grow these organisations, so their reach and impact increases. Our community of consultants volunteer their time and skills to improve and develop charities across the country. "

For a full list of the services we provide and to get in touch, please visit our website.