Logan’s Chilli festival fires up despite Covid dampener
Hellfire Alley, an afterburn bar, chilli challenges, chilli plants, hot rods, and a selection of freshly prepared chilli food to tempt the tastebuds … all part of this year’s Chillogan-Lite Festival
Logan
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One of Logan’s hottest festivals will go ahead even though organisers were hit with COVID closures during the year and possibly face costs to hire the venue from a council.
Chillogan, the city’s chilli festival, will go ahead at the Beenleigh Town Square in December despite restrictions on numbers, venues and being asked for $850 from Logan City Council.
Organiser Sandra Beynon said she had to scale back plans and change the venue to cope with social distancing restrictions and to cut costs.
But she said that the Logan City Council had come to the party and after much discussion, was considering an application for sponsorship for $3000.
Organisers are now awaiting the outcome which they said would assist with the bottomline and to help donate more to Cystic Fibrosis Queensland, which receives 10 per cent of net profits.
Ms Beynon said Logan would be one of the few cities to get a festival this year but added that she was hoping not to pay the $850 fee to hire the Beenleigh Town Square as her business had taken a hit when COVID rules closed three of her events.
“Brisbane City Council is waiving fees for venue hire so why can’t Logan do the same,” she said.
“They should be paying me to host my event there.
“It’ll be summer and the warm evenings will lend themselves to a nice, cold beer or cocktail from the Afterburn Bar, and the kids can splash around in the water feature to keep cool, as well as enjoying the Kidz Zone.
“I doubt that even rain will keep people away from a rare event in this very trying year, when there has been nothing planned or any festivals,” she said.
Logan City Council has a range of hardship options and discounts available for local businesses struggling during the pandemic.
Ms Beynon said the Beenleigh Town Square was the perfect site for the pared back Chillogan-Lite and said there was plenty of room for people to socially distance but still have a good time celebrating the end of a horrible year.
“We’re calling it Chillogan-Lite but it’s not light on entertainment at all,” she said.
“The Beenleigh Town Square is purpose-built for community events and it’s nice to be able to come back to our original festival site where we launched in 2018.”
She said plans to hold a larger two-day weekend event at Logan River Parklands were scaled back after COVID closed many businesses and put a lid on numbers at venues.
The festival, now called Chillogan-lite, will be for six hours on Saturday, December 5 from 2pm to 9pm.
Hot and spicy fun and games will be held during the afternoon and, in line with Covid safety rules, patronage will not exceed 1500 at any one time at the square with ticket sales limited to 2000.
All the usual fun activities will be included such as Hellfire Alley, the Afterburn Bar, music, dancers, chilli challenges, chilli plants, pony rides, animal nursery, Viking breed motorcycle display, Brisbane Commodore car club, hot rod and freshly prepared chilli food to tempt the tastebuds.
For those who don’t like it hot, there will also be some not-so-hot food.
Mr Beynon said Logan residents deserved to be able to relax and enjoy and food festival.
“I’ve struggled with loss of all my gigs since February, and am really hoping this festival will make a little bit of money for charity and help make up for the loss of income and having to cancel my other two festivals this year.
“I’ve been nominated for an award for my fundraising efforts for Cystic Fibrosis Queensland, so I have to keep on going.”
CHILLOGAN: Saturday, December 5 from 2pm to 9pm at Beenleigh Town Square. Admission free.