Easter on the Macintyre goes off with a bang

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23 April 2019

 

Rockets galore! Easter on the Macintyre goes off with a bang

 

This year’s Easter on the Macintyre was the “best yet” according to organisers and community groups.

Bumper crowds gathered in Goondiwindi for the festival over the long weekend. Now in its 7th year, the event has quickly become one of the premier tourism events in Queensland’s most liveable regional town.

The Easter Bunny and helpers had a busy weekend on the banks of the Macintyre, handing out more than 600 Easter eggs to the region’s children.

Goondiwindi Regional Council Mayor Graeme Scheu said visitors attended the sporting, hospitality and entertainment events in droves.

“It was a great weekend for our community groups,” Cr Scheu said. 

“The service clubs that catered for the fireworks night sold out of all their food and the Rotary Club Bozo Bus and Jumping castles were also hugely popular.”

Cr Scheu said a particular highlight of the weekend had undoubtedly been the Goondiwindi State High School’s preview performance of their upcoming musical. The riverbanks were alive with The Sound of Music on Saturday night as the students performed a selection of numbers from their production.

Cr Scheu said the school’s full production at the end of May was sure to be a sell-out following the preview at the Easter festival.

The Saturday night fireworks, presented by the Vern Kleinschmidt Community Trust, were popular as ever with the display gaining recognition as one of the best in the state.

“I think many would agree the display was the best ever seen in regional Queensland,” Cr Scheu said.

The theme for this year’s monster fireworks was “Rockets Galore” and tied in with another attraction for this year: the hugely successful Thunda Down Under event.

Based in Tarawera, the event was truly an international affair with patrons from all over Australia in attendance as well as keen rocketeers from Canada, Belgium, Japan and the USA. There was even a large contingent of 72 visitors from New Zealand.

Attractions included rocket launches, parachute displays, rocket drag races and an imposing “wall of fire”. The Scenic Rim Astronomy Association had telescopes available over the weekend for solar, stars and moon viewings.

Cr Scheu said rocketeers were keen for a permanent site to be established in Queensland and that the Tarawera site was right in the mix.

“State and Federal Governments are seeking a permanent site for an aerospace hub in the state,” he said.

“Goondiwindi has an impressive record thanks to events like Thunda and we’re cementing our reputation as a centre for rocketry and the aerospace industry.”

As celebrations came to a close on Monday, the planning is already underway for next year’s 8th annual event.

Organisers are keeping tight-lipped about what 2020 will have in store, but have said that it will be even bigger and better than ever before.

 

For further information, please contact:
Cr Graeme Scheu
Mayor
PH:   0427 718 877
E:      mayor@grc.qld.gov.au

23rd April 2019 at 12:00 AM