Community
15 September, 2024
Record crowd at ‘24 pageant
THE largest crowd in the history of the Babinda Harvest Festival gathered on Saturday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the festival in a display of community, family and the best of FNQ culture.
For its 60th year, the festival brought back crowd favourites like the tractor pull, the grand parade, the most traditional event in the Harvest Festival Queen, food stalls and lots of activities for the children, including a extremely popular giant lolly drop.
Despite a wet end of the week the main event on September 7 enjoyed great weather and more than 6000 people attended the festival, the largest crowd the event has ever seen in 60 years.
“This 60th anniversary was very well received by the community, we had a great turnout of 6000-plus people through the event which makes this our biggest event yet,” said festival president Carly Francis.
“We had lots going on at Bill Wakeham Park and lots to do for the whole family and for the first time we had 39 of the past reigning queens come back.
“Joan Dickson was our first ever 1962 queen and she was here to meet our four princesses.
“The lolly drop from the helicopter was a highlight of the day for the kids and there was a family-friendly atmosphere with good music, good vibes and good weather. We had more people involved with our vintage machinery and market stalls. There was something for everyone to see and do.”
As one of the festival’s most crucial traditions, this year saw the 60th anniversary queen crowned in the presence of the first ever Harvest Festival Queen Joan Dickson.
“Lilly Ann Russel was crowned Harvest Festival Queen in our princess quest and our Miss Community Spirit was Alysha Wright out of four entrants this year,” Ms Francis said.
“All of the girls worked really well in the community. All of them do community work and get involved with the community through fundraising and we saw a lot of growth in Lilly throughout the quest. She was very dedicated to helping out with all events and volunteering her time.”
Division 1 councillor Brett Moller, who attended the main event last Saturday, said it had been a momentous festival to witness in a town with a population of 4500.
“It was a big occasion, a 60th anniversary is no small feat, and I was informed the festival had its biggest crowd ever,” he said.
“There was this real country fair atmosphere at the grand parade with floats, and restored tractors and vehicles and the community and schools all put floats in.
“This is an event that strengthens the fabric of the community and with it growing each year there’s lots to look forward to next year.”
