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Media release
2nd July 2018 Mission Beach Cassowary Festival hailed huge success The Cassowary Festival organising committee is ecstatic at the outcome of the festival's second year event. The weather was perfect and the overwhelming feedback from the day was the fantastic atmosphere with everyone having a fun, entertaining and educational day. “We are overwhelmed and delighted with the support from all sectors of the community” said festival organising committee member Liz Gallie. “The Council has been a huge help providing equipment and labour for set up”. “Their support through RADF and Community Assistance grants enhanced the festival with two impressive art projects, the Gunduy Midja and the cassowary Sand Sculpture”. “We were very pleased that three councillors attended the festival”. The spectacular art installation 'Gunday Midja' created by local artists Leonard Andy and Nina Dawson took pride of place at the centre of the festival where the Djiru Tradtional Owners shared their stories. A Cassowary sand sculpture was modelled at the ‘stripeys Tent’, Children could try out their skills under expert supervision from the 'Sand in Your Eyes' world renowned master sculptor Dennis Massoud. "The business community has been very supportive with donations and prizes for raffles" said Liz. "Funds raised has meant we can offer more support to our local artists, who have been so generous with their time and fees to help make the festival a success.” Local businesses were enthusiastic to extend the festival over four days. Heading up the festival events was the sell out 'Rainforest to Reef' evening with Juergen and Stella Freund. The internationally acclaimed photography duo showcased spectacular wildlife and nature images on screen while captivating the audience with their personal experiences. Bingil Bay Cafe held a 'Mission Beach naturally' evening with local musicians Brent Cook and 'Doc' entertaining guests with their own blend of music with ringing some original, nature inspired tunes, amongst a mix of songs bearing old folk and alternative rock influence. |
The Village Green's 'Sundown' event was driven by driven by Helen Wiltshire Gallery owner Hilary Watson. "A community festival is a very important event. It brings life into town". said Hilary "The Cassowary Festival is a natural fit for Mission Beach. It not only celebrates the great wildlife we have but also what we're here for". "A major part of that is the relaxed village atmosphere" said Hilary.
Mel Bowman-Finn was dynamic in her role of MC for the day. Her message that the festival was a celebration of nature drawing attention to why Mission Beach is so special, came across loud and clear through her promotion of the 'Mission Beach naturally' branding.
The committee's focus was on community inclusion and activities designed to be interactive and educational.
Festival committee member Sandal Hayes said “The feedback from the participants which included government departments and local landcare and wildcare groups was overwhelmingly positive” “ They all said they look forward to being part of the festival again next year”.
“We were delighted to see so many people take part in the fun and make the effort to ‘dress up’” said Sandal,
The Stripey's Tent was packed with kids keen to participate in the arts and crafts coordinated by Mission Arts. Okka Wikka's Stuart Lloyd's weaving workshop was busy and as always a very popular activity for anyone to participate in.
The Drumming of Cassowaries parade didn't disappoint as a much anticipated highlight of the day with many volunteers keen to carry the vibrant sculptures of cassowaries and other Cassowary Coast wildlife created especially for the event. As with last year, the parade was enhanced by the performing local group of Belly Dancers who danced their way to the park in the spirit of the festival wearing cassowary colours, red black and blue.
Stalls holders sharing information about the work they do with wildlife and land care all reported having a busy day.
There were insect displays, stick insect eggs and butterfly plant giveaways and local landcare group C4 planted trees along a degraded section of the dune near the festival. Exhibits of innovative projects including water pumps and energy generators using discarded items such as tyres, washing machines and ceilings fan were very popular.
Other product and food stall holders also had a very successful day.
A record number of cars lined the Mission Beach village streets with an estimate of over 2000 people attracted to the event. Local Mission Beach business owner Trudy Mitkus reported “The town was buzzing with the extra visitors”.
Rising music star Tay Oskee was excited to have been asked to perform back in his home town and was a huge drawcard to close the festival. “We are committed to supporting our local artists and locally owned and operated businesses”. said Liz.
Brettacorp's Brett Krause summed up the day with his comments "Congratulations organising committee. Excellent day. See you next year"
Ends
Contact
Liz Gallie
0414 402315
Mel Bowman-Finn was dynamic in her role of MC for the day. Her message that the festival was a celebration of nature drawing attention to why Mission Beach is so special, came across loud and clear through her promotion of the 'Mission Beach naturally' branding.
The committee's focus was on community inclusion and activities designed to be interactive and educational.
Festival committee member Sandal Hayes said “The feedback from the participants which included government departments and local landcare and wildcare groups was overwhelmingly positive” “ They all said they look forward to being part of the festival again next year”.
“We were delighted to see so many people take part in the fun and make the effort to ‘dress up’” said Sandal,
The Stripey's Tent was packed with kids keen to participate in the arts and crafts coordinated by Mission Arts. Okka Wikka's Stuart Lloyd's weaving workshop was busy and as always a very popular activity for anyone to participate in.
The Drumming of Cassowaries parade didn't disappoint as a much anticipated highlight of the day with many volunteers keen to carry the vibrant sculptures of cassowaries and other Cassowary Coast wildlife created especially for the event. As with last year, the parade was enhanced by the performing local group of Belly Dancers who danced their way to the park in the spirit of the festival wearing cassowary colours, red black and blue.
Stalls holders sharing information about the work they do with wildlife and land care all reported having a busy day.
There were insect displays, stick insect eggs and butterfly plant giveaways and local landcare group C4 planted trees along a degraded section of the dune near the festival. Exhibits of innovative projects including water pumps and energy generators using discarded items such as tyres, washing machines and ceilings fan were very popular.
Other product and food stall holders also had a very successful day.
A record number of cars lined the Mission Beach village streets with an estimate of over 2000 people attracted to the event. Local Mission Beach business owner Trudy Mitkus reported “The town was buzzing with the extra visitors”.
Rising music star Tay Oskee was excited to have been asked to perform back in his home town and was a huge drawcard to close the festival. “We are committed to supporting our local artists and locally owned and operated businesses”. said Liz.
Brettacorp's Brett Krause summed up the day with his comments "Congratulations organising committee. Excellent day. See you next year"
Ends
Contact
Liz Gallie
0414 402315
Media Release
29 June 2018 Rainforest to Reef exhibition enthralls
The Palms events room at Castaways was filled to capacity with over 50 people attending an on screen exhibition 'Rainforest to Reef' presented by Internationally acclaimed wildlife and nature photography team Juergen and Stella Freund. With a powerful underlying conservation message, Juergen and Stella entertained with stories and adventure experiences while presenting their enthralling photographic odyssey taking guests on a journey through many countries of the Coral Triangle, Australia and Fiji The Fruends have more than 30 years of experience in photojournalism, conservation, adventure and commercial photography "From the bottom of the Ocean to the thick of the rainforest until the blue of the sky" quotes their website. "We constantly elevate our photography to tell compelling visual stories which matter" "I am so glad I didn't miss this event" a guest commented "It was awe inspiring. It bought tears to my eyes". a The Rainforest to Reef exhibition launched four days of events 'celebrating nature' as part of the Mission Beach Community Cassowary Festival 2018 Ends ------------------------------------------------- Contact Mission Beach Cassowary Festival Committee Liz Gallie 0414 402 315 To book Juergen and Stella for speaking engagements, please inquire at: [email protected] juergenfreund.com |
Media Release
19 June 2018 Wearable Art inspired by love of cassowaries and nature A spectacular Cassowary Dress has been loaned to the community for display during the upcoming Mission Beach Community Cassowary Festival. Chani Pierce, contacted the festival committee with the offer to use the dress made by her late mother Patricia Pierce - Drake. Chani, an Innisfail local, said "We love Cassowaries & everything in nature". "It would be lovely to showcase something my mother created with a lot of time and effort". "The dress was even modelled at a Tafe event" Chani added proudly. "She spent a lot of hours also making baby chick cassowaries out of paper mache".Although Patricia, known as Trish, had been a dressmaker most of her life, it was in her later years that she completed several dressmaking courses at Innisfail Tafe. "Patricia was always very passionate about wildlife and the land" . "She adored cassowaries so much she created this cassowary dress. Chani said. She would go to great lengths to add detail" You can see it in the bead work". "We are very excited to have been contacted by Chani. " said festival committee member Penny Bell who collected the artwork this week. "I was even more excited when I got to see Trish's awesome creation". Chani has kindly donated her mother's treasured artwork to be displayed for the duration of the festival. "We are so fortunate to have been given the perfect mannequin for the dress by Sandra Cuming of Kaotica, Cairns" said Penny. The 'Cassowary Dress' has a fitting temporary home taking pride of place at the entrance to the Helen Wiltshire Gallery in the Mission Beach Village Green. |
Owner of the gallery, Hilary Watson, has nicknamed her new gallery 'companion' 'Cassidy' and invites people to visit the gallery to see Trish's wearable art creation "We hope it will inspire others to make their own costume for the Festival".
"Its going to be lots of fun" said Penny, "There will be prizes for the best Cassowary Costume so we can't wait to see what our creative community come up with"
The Mission Beach Community Cassowary Festival will run over four days from the 29th June to the 1st July with the main festival event held on Saturday 30th June from 9am - 4pm
The full program of events can be found on www.cassowaryfestival.com.
Ends
-----------------------------------------------------------------
For more information
The festival committee
contacts;
Liz Gallie
0414 402315
Penny Bell
0432117673
Helen Wiltshire Gallery ,Hilary Watson.
4068 7280
"Its going to be lots of fun" said Penny, "There will be prizes for the best Cassowary Costume so we can't wait to see what our creative community come up with"
The Mission Beach Community Cassowary Festival will run over four days from the 29th June to the 1st July with the main festival event held on Saturday 30th June from 9am - 4pm
The full program of events can be found on www.cassowaryfestival.com.
Ends
-----------------------------------------------------------------
For more information
The festival committee
contacts;
Liz Gallie
0414 402315
Penny Bell
0432117673
Helen Wiltshire Gallery ,Hilary Watson.
4068 7280
Media Release
13 June 2018 Cassowary Festival for Mission Beach - naturally The Mission Beach Community loves to celebrate and they have a lot to celebrate! Following the success of the inaugural Mission Beach Community Cassowary Festival last year, the Mission Beach community is ready to once again to show off their creative talent . All in the name of the Cassowary or in local Djiru Traditional Owner language, the Gunduy. "The cassowary is what everybody who comes to Mission Beach wants to see" said Mission Beach Visitor Centre manager Evelyn Swarbrick. " If I had 10 cents for every person who asked at the visitor centre where they could see a cassowary, I would be a retired millionaire by now" "It's only natural for the Mission Beach community to want to celebrate the cassowary , after we are known as the Cassowary Capital and we are the Cassowary Coast"' said Mission Beach Cassowaries group spokesperson Liz Gallie, who is a leading advocate for promoting the ' Mission Beach - naturally!" tourism destination branding. |
The Mission Beach State School kids are always excited to participate in projects to celebrate the beauty of their area and to help protect cassowaries. They have formed a choir and have been rehearsing a song written theywrote called Mission Beach Naturally - a magic place'. They are also designing temporary roadside signs promoting cassowary awareness for people driving to the festival.
Vibrant Cassowary Coast creature sculptures have been created at a series of workshops under the tutelage of well known art and drama teacher Jan Davies. Both the song and sculptures were made possible with Cassowary Coast Regional Council RADF Grants and will add vibrant additions to the festival and the Drumming of Cassowaries Parade.
A large scale interactive installation incorporating the cassowary will make an exciting and significant contribution to the Cassowary Festival festival. The' Gunduy Midja' installation created by well known Mission Beach Artists, Djiru Ttraditonal Owner Leonard Andy and textile artist Nina Dawson will be a major drawcard to the Cassowary Festival where the Djiiru people will be sharing their knowledge with locals and visitors. The Gunduy Midja has also been funded with a RADF grant
There will be environment displays, art and craft workshops, guest speakers and a great line up of local musicians to entertain throughout the day. Local musicians will include rising music star Tay Oskee who will be travelling 'home' from successful touring to perform at the festival.
"We have an extremely creative community" said Mel Bowman Finn who will be the MC at the festival. "All our entertainers are local so it is a true Mission Beach community event. The awareness of this great bird brings out the best in us all"
Our aim is to celebrate Mission Beach through our points of difference. "The festival is a fun and creative way of doing that. It will be an added attraction for visitors and increase nature-based tourism business opportunities and environmental awareness ". "It's the low key development and 'wildness' character that creates the real charm of Mission Beach" said Liz " It is also the core of the 'Mission Beach naturally' branding vision.
Hilary Watson owner of Helen Wiltshire Gallery agreed "A community festival is a very important event. It brings life into town". "The Cassowary Festival is a natural fit for Mission Beach. It not only celebrates the great wildlife we have but also what we're here for". "A major part of that is the relaxed village atmosphere" said Hilary.
A big audience is expected with the date being in the middle of the tourist season. The festival aims to further Mission Beach’s reputation as a national and international tourism destination where the community helps protect cassowaries and the exceptional natural environment. Organisers hope the festival will become an annual event with benefits for the local arts and business community.
The full program and list of events can be found on www.cassowaryfestival.com
Ends
----------------------------------------------
For more information
Contact
Mission Beach Cassowary Festival Committee
Liz Gallie
0414 402 315
For the Gunduy Midja project contact Nina Dawson
0488 263 926
Vibrant Cassowary Coast creature sculptures have been created at a series of workshops under the tutelage of well known art and drama teacher Jan Davies. Both the song and sculptures were made possible with Cassowary Coast Regional Council RADF Grants and will add vibrant additions to the festival and the Drumming of Cassowaries Parade.
A large scale interactive installation incorporating the cassowary will make an exciting and significant contribution to the Cassowary Festival festival. The' Gunduy Midja' installation created by well known Mission Beach Artists, Djiru Ttraditonal Owner Leonard Andy and textile artist Nina Dawson will be a major drawcard to the Cassowary Festival where the Djiiru people will be sharing their knowledge with locals and visitors. The Gunduy Midja has also been funded with a RADF grant
There will be environment displays, art and craft workshops, guest speakers and a great line up of local musicians to entertain throughout the day. Local musicians will include rising music star Tay Oskee who will be travelling 'home' from successful touring to perform at the festival.
"We have an extremely creative community" said Mel Bowman Finn who will be the MC at the festival. "All our entertainers are local so it is a true Mission Beach community event. The awareness of this great bird brings out the best in us all"
Our aim is to celebrate Mission Beach through our points of difference. "The festival is a fun and creative way of doing that. It will be an added attraction for visitors and increase nature-based tourism business opportunities and environmental awareness ". "It's the low key development and 'wildness' character that creates the real charm of Mission Beach" said Liz " It is also the core of the 'Mission Beach naturally' branding vision.
Hilary Watson owner of Helen Wiltshire Gallery agreed "A community festival is a very important event. It brings life into town". "The Cassowary Festival is a natural fit for Mission Beach. It not only celebrates the great wildlife we have but also what we're here for". "A major part of that is the relaxed village atmosphere" said Hilary.
A big audience is expected with the date being in the middle of the tourist season. The festival aims to further Mission Beach’s reputation as a national and international tourism destination where the community helps protect cassowaries and the exceptional natural environment. Organisers hope the festival will become an annual event with benefits for the local arts and business community.
The full program and list of events can be found on www.cassowaryfestival.com
Ends
----------------------------------------------
For more information
Contact
Mission Beach Cassowary Festival Committee
Liz Gallie
0414 402 315
For the Gunduy Midja project contact Nina Dawson
0488 263 926