May 7, 2012
The Saturday morning sausage sizzle made a welcome return to Blackbutt’s CBD last weekend after an absence of almost eight months.
The occasion was the official launch of the 2012 Bloomin’ Beautiful Blackbutt Festival in Les Muller Park. And the Festival committee were eager to cook up a storm of interest in what they hope will be the biggest Festival yet.
Bloomin’ Beautiful Blackbutt will be held from the September 1-9 this year, with the main days falling on Saturday September 1 and the following weekend, September 8-9.
This year – thanks to a grant from the State Government – the Festival has engaged Melanie Doheny as a full-time Events Coordinator, and she’ll be reprising the best elements of last year’s event as well as adding in several new ones.
The Festival will kick off on September 1 at the Blackbutt Showgrounds with a reprise concert by The Eagels, the electrifying Eagles tribute band that opened the 2011 event, backed by rising Nanango country artist Amber Goldsmith.
Last year’s concert drew in excess of 650 people (probably the largest concert attendance figures in the town’s history). So the Festival committee are hoping the band’s 2012 “Back To Blackbutt” concert will draw an even bigger audience now that word has spread about what a great night out it was.
The Festival also hopes to expand on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail theme that was worked so successfully into last yeat’s event by holding a 100km mountain bike marathon cycling race along the Trail and nearby stock routes.
It’s engaged Two Wheel Promotions to organise this race, and the company expects between 75 and 120 participants to follow a course that will laid out between Blackbutt, Yarraman and Benarkin.
“Bloomin’ Beautiful Blackbutt is all about tourist promotion,” Festival committee spokesman Jeff Connor told southburnett.com.au.
“The majority of tourists get their first view of the South Burnett coming over the Blackbutt Range. So we want to alert them that not only is our area worth visiting, but that every town has a lot to offer.
“Blackbutt has many unique features that you won’t find anywhere else in the South Burnett – such as the Rail Trail – and naturally the Festival showcases this.
“But we’re doing it as part of the overall regional effort to build recognition for our area because that’s good for everyone.”
The Festival committee expect to be launching an updated website within a few weeks to outline the complete programme for 2012.
But in the meantime, Bloomin’ Beautiful’s sausage sizzle stand will be returning to Coulson Street between the Bendigo Community Bank and Denno’s Discounts from 7:00am to 9:00am every Saturday morning from now until Spring to keep the excitement cooking.
