Only ‘community’ can save the Gympie Gold Rush festival

The days of colourful costumes, parties and floats parading down Mary St might be over for good, with the once popular festival in dire need of a helping hand to survive.

The Gympie gold rush of the 19th century saved Queensland from bankruptcy, and now the annual celebration of those pioneering days appears truly dead in the water.

Mayor Glen Hartwig said the Gympie Gold Rush festival will be consigned to history unless a community group steps up to take the reins.

The event has been a staple of the region for decades, drawing huge crowds of spectators, party goers and participants in the parade, including businesses, schools and community groups.

The event was run by community volunteers until 2018 when it was taken over by Gympie Regional Council.

Former mayor Mick Curran sparked a backlash when he said the event was “dead in the water” before the council took over, drawing the ire of former organiser Jan Collins, who demanded an apology for her and her team of volunteers.

Gympie’s popular Gold Rush event will be consigned to the same history it was celebrating without community support. Photo Patrick Woods / Gympie Times

In recent times the event was plagued by weather problems, and was all but washed out by heavy rain and thunderstorms for two consecutive years.

In 2020, it was one of many Gympie region events to fall victim to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now it needs a big helping hand to get back on its feet.

“If there is a desire from enough community volunteers to drive that event, council will be more than happy to get in behind and assist,” Mr Hartwig said.

“But we saw last term when council took over … tens of thousands of ratepayers funds were spent to very limited outcomes.”

The parade was almost washed out by heavy rain in 2018 and 2019, and cancelled due to Covid in 2020.

The council spent $75,000 on the event in 2019.

“We have found council is most successful when they support community events that are run by volunteers that are passionate rather than taking them over and trying to fund them to success.”

Mr Hartwig said the council had not been approached by any interested groups to-date.

“But we’re happy to be approached.”

“History shows that the way to make a community event successful is that it’s run and owned by the community.

“When council takes these events over, they don’t have the same level of passion that volunteers bring and their success wanes.

“It’s not simply a geographic thing that Gympie experiences; it’s something seen right around the country.”