Terry Mackrell
Festival organiser Terry Mackrell, from the South Burnett Gas Guzzlers, with an immaculately restored Chevy pickup, one of more than a dozen vehicles he brought along to the Festival
Thea Appleby
Thea Applebee, from Nanango, with her dad Glen’s 1965 Chevy

October 20, 2013

The second annual Waterhole Rocks festival drew an enthusiastic group of rock’n’roll fans to Nanango Showgrounds at the weekend.

They had come to enjoy dancing, music, classic cars and 1950s memorabilia, and the Festival organisers didn’t let them down.

The dance floor was packed on Friday and Saturday nights; many visitors also also took up the opportunity of free rock’n’roll dance lessons throughout the three-day festival to ensure they had the all the right moves down pat.

On Saturday, there were driving games on the Showgrounds’ main arena to watch as well as a wide range of classic vehicles on display.

Many of these were supplied by the South Burnett Gas Guzzlers, which also stages its own successful “Raising Hell” car show in Maidenwell each July.

A number of guests also took the opportunity of inexpensive camping at the Showgrounds to make a full weekend of it, arriving late Friday afternoon and departing late on Sunday afternoon.

Nanango Show Society president Les Schloss and co-organiser Terry Mackrell said they felt the attendance was about the about the same as last year.

“Everyone has told us this Festival has a really great atmosphere so we’ll be pressing on with it in 2014,” Les said.

He said everyone involved was taking a long-term view of the event.

The Nanango Country Music Muster started with an audience of 500 in 2002 and now attracts more than 3500 people every year.

“It takes awhile for events to find their feet. But we’ve had a very positive outcome this year and that’s given us encouragement for the future,” Les said.

Waterhole Rocks
Rock’n’roll dancing and 50s/60s music were another major theme of the Festival and the dance floor was rarely empty; when bands weren’t playing, guests took free dance lessons
John and Judy Baker
John and Judy Baker travelled from Ferny Grove to operate a memorabilia stand at the Festival
Jessica Wicks, Marilyn Newton and Danielole Turmaine
Jessica Wicks, Marilyn Newton and Danielle Turmaine were kept busy helping out at the bar
Wayne Streeting
There were lots of rarely seen cars on display, such as this 1939 Willy’s hotrod … owner Wayne Streeting, from Kingaroy, said he’d spent about $35,000 in parts for it but all the hours was purely a ‘labour of love’