The day will begin with road blocks outside the Tennis Courts in Church Street, the bridge on Ulan Road, and near the mini-mart on Market Street, where drivers can donate.

Before the fete back at Mudgee High for students from the local primary schools and Year 10 of St Matt’s and then for the high school students.

The day will conclude with the annual Rainbow Day concert.

Rainbow Day has now been so around so long that some of the students who participated in the fundraisers’ early  years are now teachers at the school. 

It was started in 2002 by then school captains Kristen Rhodes and Colin Bailey as an alternative to “Muck Up Day”. 

Originally it started as a way of raising money for students who’d fallen on hard times but the event now raises money for an organisation or cause. 

 This year it’s Mudgee District Hospital and Headspace.

Luke Golden, now a teacher at Mudgee High,  was in Year 12 of 2004 when Rainbow Day was in its third year,.

He said since those early days the event had become part of the fabric of the school.

“I remember when it started it was a big thing but it definitely wasn’t set in stone when we did it but now it’s part of the school’s culture,” he said. 

Current Year 12 student Erika MacPherson said when you go to Mudgee High “you just can’t wait until you get to do it and come up with your own stalls”.

“And speaking with students at other schools they say that their time at school just ends, there’s nothing fun like this,” she said.

Emma Hauville, also from Year 12, said that Rainbow Day is a chance to not only connect with the rest of the school but with the local community as well.

“I think you can get focussed just on school whereas with Rainbow Day you interact with people outside of the school and you work not just with your friends but with the whole year group,” she said.

Year 12 Advisor Melissa Date said the annual fundraising event has become beloved and also teaches the graduating year a lesson in life.

“It’s been embraced by the community and I think that it’s a way that they connect with Year 12 finishing their time at school,” she said.

“For the students also about learning to work together and develop skills that are going to be really beneficial in terms of the paths they take after school.”