Crowds gather to celebrate Gympie's birthday

THE GOLD Rush Festival might have ended abruptly, but it ended aptly according to committee president David Gibson. "At 6.45pm the heavens opened and rained down liquid gold," he said yesterday

THE GOLD Rush Festival might have ended abruptly, but it ended aptly according to committee president David Gibson. "At 6.45pm the heavens opened and rained down liquid gold," he said yesterday.

Yet despite the earlier-than-scheduled ending to the day's events the festival has been declared a huge success.

"The change in location was really well received. We saw increased numbers and a lot more interacting between the various elements of Gold Rush. People watched the gold panning, then went over to the parade, then checked out the stage," Mr Gibson said.

Evening events including the cake cutting and the fireworks were postponed.

"The fireworks are rescheduled for later in the year and the cake cutting happened today at 12.30pm (Monday) at the City Centre Stage.

"Cake was distributed to local residents, shoppers and children in Mary Street on the pupil free day."

And while the committee was excited about how well received the move to Lake Alford was, there are still a few things to fine-tune before Gympie's 140th birthday celebrations next year.

"We have got to improve the parking," Mr Gibson said. However, crowds numbering in the thousands at Saturday's events herald a new era for the annual celebrations.

"What we saw this year was really the rebirth of the Gold Rush Festival and the future promises some great things."

The Saturday event at Lake Alford concluded a week of celebrations including the Gold Rush Literary Awards and photography competition, the Gold Rush art exhibition, the Mayoress' Command Performance, and a youth night at Lake Alford featuring amusements and an open-air screening of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Gold Rush organisers are encouraging any interested community-minded people to bring a new face and a fresh perspective to the committee.

"We will be building things up to be even bigger and better next year."

For more information phone David Gibson on 5482 3651.

Originally published as Crowds gather to celebrate Gympie's birthday