{"id":182622,"date":"2017-06-28T23:39:10","date_gmt":"2017-06-28T13:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=182622"},"modified":"2020-09-10T23:19:56","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T13:19:56","slug":"country-festival-off-to-a-great-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/06\/28\/country-festival-off-to-a-great-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Country Festival Off To A Great Start"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Eden Smith and Cilla Slack from Gayndah were a star attraction with children at the Wondai Country Festival … Cilla’s Blue Gum Farm TV Show proved to be a hit with many parents, too<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Kingaroy State High School Dance Troupe was one of many local groups that performed at the Festival<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 29, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wondai’s Coronation Park was packed to capacity on Saturday for the inaugural Wondai Country Festival, and it stayed that way for most of the day.<\/p>\n

More than a dozen caravans lined the nearby short-stay caravan parking area, and the newly sealed South Burnett Rail Trail was abuzz with walkers, runners and cyclists taking part in the Festival’s athletic events.<\/p>\n

Shoppers could happily browse a bigger-than-usual Wondai Markets for bargains, or relax in front of the Percy Iszlaub Sound Shell for a day of free entertainment that included everything from live music to line dancing and a display of whip-cracking.<\/p>\n

Cilla Slack’s Blue Gum Farm TV Show provided entertainment for the children, as did the jumping castles and face painting.<\/p>\n

Durong Dingo Sanctuary’s dingoes also proved very popular.<\/p>\n

In the afternoon, a Slim Dusty Tribute Concert at the Wondai Town Hall capped everything off, drawing a crowd of more than 100 for a trip down memory lane.<\/p>\n

The Country Festival is the brainchild of Wondai Regional Art Gallery curator Elaine Madill, who attended an events workshop last year to get expert advice about how to put on a fun public event.<\/strong><\/p>\n

From there, assisted by a team of Gallery volunteers, the Country Festival began to take shape.<\/p>\n

“We wanted to put on something that was inexpensive for families and would offer something for everyone,” Elaine said.<\/p>\n

“The advice I had was to start out small and let things build naturally over time, so we used our Wondai Markets as the Festival’s core and things quickly snowballed from that.”<\/p>\n

Cr Ros Heit, who helped start the Wondai parkrun group, put up her hand to help organise the Festival’s Fun Run, Fun Walk and Fun Ride.<\/p>\n

CROW-FM station manager Chris “Corky” Corcoran volunteered to be compere, and entertainers and local school and community groups also put up their hands to help.<\/p>\n

The South Burnett Regional Council also pitched in, providing a small grant to help the event find its feet and cover a number of set-up costs.<\/p>\n

The end result, Elaine said, was “a marvellous success” that was a tribute to all the volunteers who had worked so hard to bring a new event to Wondai.<\/p>\n

“We had perfect weather on Saturday – not too hot, not too cool – and everything went pretty much like clockwork,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Everyone seemed to be having a really good time, and the atmosphere was very lively and upbeat.”<\/p>\n

Elaine said everyone involved was pleased with the outcome, and she looked forward to making the Country Festival one of the South Burnett’s annual winter events.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
St John’s Lutheran School whipcrackers Scarlett Norris, 9, Jackson Kerkow, 9, Casey Springhall, 10, Olivia Mogg, 12, Pita Tidmarsh, 11, and Charlotte Landherr, 11, showed the crowd their skills<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell chatted with the Festival’s compere “Corky” Corcoran, from CROW-FM<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n
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Former Wondai Shire Mayor Percy Iszlaub, who performed with the Wondai Town Band, shared a laugh with Cr Ros Heit<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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A large team from the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service lined up to take part in the morning’s Fun Run\/Walk along the newly sealed South Burnett Rail Trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Walkers and runners received a pep talk from Mayor Keith Campbell before the 8km and 4km events got underway … keen athletes took the longer course, but many more took the shorter one<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Back on stage, the Stolzenberg Brothers kept the crowd entertained …<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n
\"\"<\/a>
… and so did Sue Bradley and Geoff Grevell from The Stepping Stones<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Another attraction at the Country Festival was Dingo Simon, (centre), from the Durong Dingo Sanctuary, who brought along three dingoes for the day; later, Simon took his dingoes to see Wondai’s famous dingo statues (Photo: DDS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Zeglar Fergus, from Brisbane, was house-sitting in Gympie for a friend when he heard about the Country Fair’s Fun Ride and decided to take part; his bike is fitted with Alaskan snow wheels which he usually fits for beach rides<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Once all the runners and walkers were off, riders taking part in the Fun Ride to Barambah Creek were assembled for another pep talk …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
… and then they were off, led by Jason Wyeth from the South Burnett Mountain Bike Club who’ll be using the Rail Trail for part of a 10-person Relay For Life team ride later this year<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Festival was capped off by a Slim Dusty Tribute Concert in the afternoon … and Lydia and Carolyn Partridge, from Redcliffe, were among the first to grab seats because their family is related to Slim Dusty; Carolyn was born in Wondai and her mother still lives in Murgon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wondai’s Coronation Park was packed to capacity on Saturday for the inaugural Wondai Country Festival, and it stayed that way for most of the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":182623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16,3],"tags":[26],"yoast_head":"\nCountry Festival Draws A Big Crowd<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wondai's Coronation Park was packed to capacity on Saturday for the inaugural Wondai Country Festival, and it stayed that way for most of the day.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/06\/28\/country-festival-off-to-a-great-start\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Country 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