October 20, 2015
A $5500 grant from Nanango’s Heritage Community Bank which allowed organisers of The Waterhole Rocks festival to add a giant dance floor to the event last year could be the magic ingredient that has turned the event into a winner.
The attendance at this year’s festival was almost double last year’s, with more than 200 caravans packing the Nanango Showgrounds.
The festival, which celebrates 1960s rock’n’roll, fashion, cars and food, was making its fourth outing this year.
Organisers said they couldn’t have been happier with big roll-up and happy atmosphere that filled the showground from Thursday night through to late Sunday afternoon.
“I’m really pleased with the way this year has gone,” organiser Terry Mackrell told southburnett.com.au.
“The crowd numbers are way up and we’ve got people here from the Gold Coast, Hervey Bay, Brisbane, Toowoomba … you name it. It’s just fantastic.”
However, Terry said he was a bit less pleased with himself.
He banged his head on Friday afternoon while fixing a drain and had to spend an unexpected five hours in hospital.
Afterwards doctors told him not to exert himself for a few days, so he had no chance to put the 12 months he’d spent learning the finer points of rock’n’roll dancing to use.
But he was philosophical about it.
“The important thing is that word about The Waterhole Rocks seems to have spread,” Terry said.
“I’ve run into a lot of people who are making their second or third trip to come here. We’re getting very positive feedback, too.”
This year’s festival, which was launched with a booked-out camp oven dinner for 150 people at the showgrounds on Thursday night, featured some new attractions for guests.
There were twice as many stallholders selling everything from 1960s memorabilia and clothing to rock’n’roll haircuts and make-up.
Two hairstylists – from Kingaroy’s “SG Designs” and Murgon’s “oriGINAl hair by GINA” – were kept busy on Saturday cutting and primping guests in preparation for another innovation: fashion parades.
Almost 40 entrants took to the catwalk on Saturday afternoon to compete for honours in the women’s, men’s, couples’, boys’ and girls’ parades. The winners walked away with trophies featuring special vinyl EPs.
A third innovation was a Mystery Cruise through the region for the many vintage and veteran cars that had come to the show’n’shine.
The run went from from the showgrounds to Yallakool on Saturday, then came back by way of Murgon, Wondai and Kingaroy, stopping off at various spots to allow the public to inspect the vehicles.
There was also plenty of live music to enjoy. Guests were entertained on Friday night by the Old 45s; and on Saturday night, by The Rockin’ Bodgies.
During the day, they could practice their dance moves to grooves supplied by Jeff “Elvis” Hancox, Bobby Ricks, Heartbeat and Peter Wisman.
A Gospel concert featuring Jeff Hancox on Sunday proved to be very moving.
The enthusiasm of the festival’s guests for the event was obvious.
One Bundaberg couple – Margaret Attard and Ross Nesmith – brought their campervan into the Showgrounds on the back of a truck after their vehicle broke down near Kingaroy.
“We’d come so far we thought we may as well just keep on,” Margaret said.
“But we’re really happy we did. And on Monday I guess we’ll have to start looking for a mechanic.”
The Nanango Show Society, which has backed the festival since its inception, is also pleased.
Show Society president Les Schloss is convinced the event is a winning concept, and will join the Nanango Country Music Muster, the Nanango Showgrounds Markets and the upcoming Nanango New Year’s Eve Mardi Gras as another feather in the Show Society’s cap.
The society is now planning to extend the length of the main hall by moving one of the end walls back by a bay-length.
The move would make it easier for bands to set up on stage, and also provide room to extend the dance floor for next year’s The Waterhole Rocks.
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In The Grounds…
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[Photos by southburnett.com.au and Keren Mcsweeney Photography]
A great event run by great people – love the photos!
Our first appearance at this year’s ‘2015 Waterhole Rocks’ and we were thrilled with the response we received from everyone. A big “Thank You” to the organisers for inviting us to be a part of such a fantastic event. We’re looking forward to doing it all again next year! Cheers Grant & Carol (HeartBeat)