New era for Cooly Rocks On as celebration of cars and culture adds 1970s swing

Major accommodation houses on the southern Gold Coast are full as the border towns prepare to welcome more than 85,000 people for the annual Cooly Rock On nostalgia festival.

EVERYTHING old will be new again at Cooly Rocks On this weekend as the festival welcomes the 1970s to its celebration of the cars and culture of the swinging 1960s.

Cooly Rocks On producers Connecting Southern Gold Coast have condensed the festival into one extra long weekend of new events and proven favourites this year.

CEO Peter Doggett said major accommodation houses were full as the precinct prepared to welcome more than 85,000 people across the weekend.

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“The crowd size all hinges on the weather,” he said.

“Last year we got hit on Saturday and Sunday with wet weather and the crowd was 85,000.

“If we get fine weather on the weekend we should be able to grow that number by 15,000 or 20,000 this year.”

Cooly Rocks On ambassador Issi Dye. Picture Mike Batterham

Fans are advised to check the event Facebook page for updates if wet weather impacts this year’s program.

The nostalgia festival has broadened the hugely popular classic car displays that underpin its program this year to include vehicles manufactured up to 1978.

The move will see cars from the ultimate muscle car era — think Holden Monaros, the XY GT Falcon, the XU1 Torana, the Trans Am and panel vans — join the festival’s displays and add extra grunt to the array of custom and classic machines for Saturday’s street parade.

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The festival precinct has moved slightly south, from Kirra Point through to the Jack Evans Boat Harbour in Tweed Heads, while work to restore Queen Elizabeth Park in Coolangatta continues after it was used as the home of beach volleyball during the Commonwealth Games.

Marine Pde and Griffith St will become pedestrian malls during Cooly Rocks on, with classic car displays and live music by rock ’n’ roll, rockabilly and swing artists. Picture: Mike Batterham

Marine Pde and Griffith St will become pedestrian malls for the festival, with classic car displays and live music by rock ’n’ roll, rockabilly and swing artists including US headliner Lance Lupinski, Lonnie Lee & The Leemen, Louie Shelton, festival ambassador Issi Dye and Danny from The Delltones.

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The festival’s signature street parade on Saturday will wind its way along 2km of beachfront in a circuit from Chalk St from 9.30am while the Super Cruises hot rods will wind their way through the streets of Coolangatta on Saturday from 6-7pm and 7.45-8.45pm, with a fireworks display in-between.

Itchy Fingers play Twin Towns during Cooly Rocks On.

New additions to the program this year include:

School of Rock, 10am-3pm today, Greenmount Stage

Proof you don’t have to be old to dig the sounds of the ’60s, this inaugural battle-of-the-bands style event will see 15 groups of up to six 10-18-year-old student musos from both sides of the border compete for $1000. Judges include former Screaming Jets drummer Izzi Osmanovic.

Celebrity Grand Marshal, Street Parade, 8.30-9.20am, Saturday, Coolangatta

Seven-time Bathurst winner and Supercars Hall of Famer Jim Richards will lead the street parade when he becomes its inaugural celebrity Grand Marshal. And he’s stoked. “It will be a wonderful opportunity to be part of what I believe to be one of the best nostalgia festivals in Australia,” he says.

Retro picnickers Katrina Lee, Krystal Baggett and Sarah Smith are looking forward to the Cooly Rocks On Vintage Picnic at Jack Evans Boat Harbour. .

Vintage Picnic, noon-3pm, Saturday, Jack Evans Boat Harbour

Crowds at Saturday’s street parade are invited to enjoy a trip down memory lane at the Vintage Picnic in Jack Evans Boat Harbour. Picnic peeps can slip on their frocks, petticoats, pedal pushers, pencil skirts, two-tones or trilbies, pack some spam sandwiches, grab some old photos and share favourite stories over a bite to eat. Bring your old vinyl along for a spin on the festival’s portable record player. The harbour is also home to the festival’s kids’ carnival zone, dance workshops, pinball competitions and a swap meet for motor enthusiasts from today until Sunday.

This year’s Cooly Rocks On will feature a new Long Board Surfing Competition at Kirra. Picture: iStock

Long Board Surfing Competition, 6am, Sunday, Kirra beach

Watch some of the southern Gold Coast’s favourite surfers walk the plank on retro longboards on what should be a long, peeling wave off Kirra Point.

Poodles and Pugs Parade, 10-11.30am, Sunday, Dutton Street Stage, Coolangatta

Pugs gatecrash the line-up for the first time this year as owners and their best friends strutt their stuff in retro gear. Prize categories include Best Dress, Best Coloured Hair, Best Poodle Skirt, Best Tick, Open Class and Best in Show, with MC Issy Dye joined by Cooly Rocks On’s canine ambassadors Miss CoCo and Miss Cassie Pooch.

Visit ­coolyrockson.com for the full program.