Tony Goodman starts group to keep Gympie Mary St festivals running

The man behind the popular Mary St events has his revealed his plans to keep them going as their future remains in doubt.

The driving force behind the ongoing success of the Mary St festivals is stepping back into the “void” to ensure the popular events remain a fixture in Gympie.

Bella Casa owner Tony Goodman is creating a new “action group” to keep the Easter, Winter, Muster and Christmas events afloat after the Gympie Chamber of Commerce announced it was stepping away from delivering them.

Chamber president Petra Van Beek said at the time thes Mary St events took “a lot of effort to run” for the volunteer-based Chamber.

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“We appreciate that they add value to the community and we certainly want to see them keep going, but we don’t believe we’re the right vehicle to be running them,” Ms Van Beek said.

The Chamber’s move away was revealed during controversy over a third-party request to keep the second night of the Christmas events on the 2022 calendar.

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Mary St trader and former Chamber of Commerce president Tony Goodman is launching a new group to help keep the popular Mary St events going after their future was left in the lurch in the lead-up to Christmas.

Only one event had been scheduled; Gympie regional Council subsequently agreed to help deliver the second night.

Mr Goodman was thankful for the council’s help, without which “the second night would not have been held”.

“They did not abandon the traders in their time of need,” Mr Goodman said.

The turnout spoke for itself and reinforced the need for the events in the iconic street and the historic heart of Gympie.

“Of the 40 shops that opened, more than 90 per cent said that the two nights had amounted to their best ever Christmas,” Mr Goodman said.

Mary St trader Tony Goodman said the ongoing Mary St events were a crucial part of the annual economy for CBD businesses, drawing thousands of people into the city centre.

He said the second night “was easily the biggest and the best that I have seen in the nine years that the Mary St festivals have been held”.

“The street was packed all the way from Monkland St intersection to the five ways (roundabout).

“The community has demonstrated its support for them.

“I hope that community members, along with business owners, will come up with ideas to assist the regeneration of the Gympie CBD and to make it the ’go to’ destination for both locals and visitors.”

Mr Goodman said the new group was focused on the future of the city centre.

He urged those with interest in helping him “make the Town Centre a dynamic, vibrant and exciting place of which we can all be proud” to get in touch.