Newsletter: Ultimate guide to April events

Plus: Risk it for the brisket.

Author

Jacob Wallace
April 01, 2026

⏱️ This Wednesday edition of our newsletter is a six-minute read.

👋 Hello Gippslanders, it’s Jacob here.

✈️ Over the weekend, I flew to Sydney to catch up with a few mates I hadn’t seen in years. We went to see Wu Tang Clan on Saturday night at Quodos Bank Arena. Unfortunately, the posse was down a few members but I’m still glad I got to go to the show.

Enough about me, let’s dive into the Gippsland stories I’ve been working on in the last week.

👀 Looking ahead - In this week’s newsletter we’re talking about:

  • 💵 How Latrobe City is spending its $5 million Commonwealth Games compensation package;

  • 🍺 A 146-year-old historic Gippsland pub up for lease;

  • 🎉 Gippsland events in April;

  • 🎤 Your favourite Gippsland restaurant, and;

  • 🥧 The brisket pies from Aperloo’s Family Bakery in Warragul.

🎥 Last week, I asked Warragul locals about their favourite place to eat in Gippsland. Take a look at which cafes and restaurants they chose below.

🎊 WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

🧺 FARMERS MARKETS 🥧

🚀 Alright, let’s jump into the Monitor’s latest yarns!

🔍 HEARD THIS WEEK👂

Latrobe City councillors said they would much rather be attending badminton and soccer matches at the Commonwealth Games right now – but they’re happy to receive $5 million from the state government in compensation.

What happened: At a Latrobe City council meeting on March 23, councillors unanimously voted to allocate $25,000 of the $5 million compensation package towards a Moe skateboarding festival. The package, received from the state government after its cancellation of the Commonwealth Games, will be spent on a range of projects across the shire.

Cancelled games: In July 2023, fifteen months after agreeing to host the games, then-Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, announced its cancellation.

  • Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Latrobe Valley were set to be the main hubs for events held across regional Victoria from March 17-29.

In the press conference announcing its cancellation, Andrews said the potential cost to host the games had escalated to $6-7 billion, up from the original $2.6 billion estimate.

Aftermath: In August 2023, the Victorian government agreed to pay $380 million in compensation to Commonwealth Games organisations for breaking the hosting contact.

In addition to this bill, the state government announced a $2 billion regional support package to manage the cancellation of the games. This package included $5 million for each of the four regional hub councils.

“Running a hotel is a very romantic concept,” Cowwarr Cricket Club Hotel owner Tim Brudenell tells the Monitor on Monday afternoon. “You sit back, have a few beers with the locals and make money.”

The dream.

“But it's not quite as easy as that,” he adds.

What happened: The Cricket Club Hotel stopped trading last December and now mother and son owners, Carmel and Tim Brudenell, are looking to lease out the historical two-storey pub to new managers.

Brudenell says his mother admired the hotel and noted in 2017 it was up for sale, when the previous owners were looking to retire.

The pair bought the pub as a retirement investment for Carmel and they’ve been leasing it out since.

Established in 1880, then rebuilt in an Art Deco style in the 1930s, it’s the only pub in Cowwarr - population 389.

From the time of the goldfields

Cowwarr was established in 1860 as a supply station for Victoria’s bustling goldfields around Walhalla.

At supply stations goods were transferred from bullock wagons to pack horses for the more treacherous journey into the Alpine Ranges.

The town was originally known as the Forty Second, named after Section 42 of the 1865 Amending Land Act, which allowed the use of land on or adjacent to the goldfields for residential and food cultivation purposes.

In 1869, a post office was opened in the town and in 1870 it became known as Cowwarr.

Over the next decade a church and a state school were opened and a railway line was built in 1883 on the then Traralgon to Heyfield line, which closed in 1987.

🎉 APRIL EVENT GUIDES 🐇

With so many events, exhibitions and festivals in Gippsland throughout autumn, the Monitor has compiled a list of some of the biggest events in the region in April.

There's plenty of live music across Gippsland this April, so time to dust off your dancing shoes.

The Monitor has compiled a collection of family-friendly events across Gippsland this April, where you and the kids can learn horse riding, celebrate Easter, listen to local live music and much more.

🎥 Watch: A succulent brisket pie from Aperloo’s Family Bakery

Someone suggested on one of the Monitor’s pie review videos that I revisit Aperloo’s Family Bakery in Warragul to taste test a brisket pie. I found myself in the area last week and couldn’t resist.

Take a look at my video review below.

Thanks for catching up with us this week at the Monitor.

📧 Can you help me out? I’m currently researching a story on how coal workers in the Latrobe Valley are shifting into new industries as the old coal-fired power plants begin to wind down.

I’m looking to talk to people who have made the shift from coal to the renewable energy sector. If you fit that bill and are happy to chat, or know someone who has a story to tell, please send me an email at [email protected].

I’ll be back in your inbox on Friday with more local Gippsland stories, so stay tuned.

Cheers,
Jacob & the Gippsland Monitor team

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