It was a day when Lismore appeared to find its smile. A day that Lismore greatly needed after such a traumatising last twelve months.

There were as many, if not more, people in the CBD than when the last Eat The Street festival was held in 2020. That was the popular opinion of many business owners as the crowd steadily built throughout the day.

Lismore City Council (LCC) cops its fair share of criticism from the community and quite a few were questioning the wisdom of putting on the event at this time. Well, LCC has to be praised for the idea, the planning and the execution for a job really well done.

The four music stages had varied audiences and played at different intervals so it was easy to enjoy all styles of music throughout the day. There were plenty of jumping castles for the kids to be amused, face painting and loads of good food.

Deb Ray from Music Bizarre on Magellan Street said, "The place is buzzing, it's been a constant flow all day", while Anthony McDonald from Lanna Pad Thai, also on Magellan Street, said "It has been constant since the music kicked off at 2. This crowd is as big as we have had in the last three years."

Walking around the corner into Keen Street and Scoops and Candy had 20 people in the shop then ten minutes later had to close the store, re-stock then reopen to keep up with demand.

There was also a constant flow of people in the Book Warehouse on Keen Street.

A man that has done so much for Lismore through the RSL, the North Lismore War Memorial and the selling of tickets to raise money for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Ken Jolly was under his marquee doing what he does best. "It has been a good day, it's been fantastic for us with the rescue helicopter. The whole atmosphere has been fantastic, everyone is saying that. It's been really great."

Mayor Steve Krieg officially opened Music From The Heart at 4pm following an Acknowledgement To Country from Aunty Thelma and Uncle Gilbert who then took a large crowd down Keen Street into Magellan and down to Wilsons River to make an Offering of sunflowers with intention to the river.

The Premier of NSW Dominic Perrottet flew in to be part of the day. As he was walking down Keen Street with Mayor Steve Krieg, he told the Lismore App, "I think it's really powerful to see so many people out and about and celebrating what has been a remarkable achievement for the entire community to get back to where we are today."

"It's been a difficult 12 months but the community is incredibly resilient. It is important for me to be here after the last 12 months after seeing the devastation but today to just see the spirit that the people have in Lismore. It's always going to be a place in my heart for a while."

'Who would have thought that 12 months ago, and there were a lot of people back then that I was speaking to that said it would never come back, but to have 60% of the businesses open, still a long way to go, but I think in terms of a milestone, here we are twelve months later and look at the place, people are out enjoying themselves and I think that's what community is all about. That's what Lismore is all about so I love it."

Mayor Krieg was beaming, "This exceeds expectations and it's just good to see, as we were saying 12 months ago to the day was the first day I met Dom (Dominic Perrottet) and to have him back here under much happier circumstances. We can see that there's still a lot of work to do but there's also a lot of progress being made in 12 short months."

When talking about the buoyant mood in the CBD, the Mayor said, "You can't discount what's happened and you can't neglect the social and mental anxiety that will live long in Lismore but you've also got to look at building into the future and you can't let go of the fact that we have to rebuild we're going to come back better. We have to get on with it and I'm really excited for the future."

Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin was walking the street and soaking in the atmosphere, "I'm excited, I'm as excited as they are. Today's a day for celebration and that's what people are saying to me. As I walk around it's taken me ages to walk around the CBD just chatting with everybody hugging, kissing, you know, just a different buzz. We needed today."

(A classic car show was also on display on Molesworth Street)

Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan was also enjoying the festival with his wife Karen, "It's a great music and food festival with a lot of people out which is great. We also had Samson this morning. A lot of people had a lot of fun up there. I get that this week has been a trigger week, it's been a traumatic week for a lot of our community so it's nice to have these feel-good events."

There is another feel-good event this afternoon at the Lismore Turf Club in North Lismore with the 'From The Heart' concert featuring Casey Barnes, Amy Sheppard, Brian Cadd and The Little Steely Bros, Darlinghurst and The Buckleys.

From The Heart starts at 1pm and runs until 6pm. There is a free bus service with details below.

Tickets are still available, click here to book.