Woolworths team creates special Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers Grand Central Parade for Children’s Hospital Foundation families

Follow all the action from the Grand Central Floral Parade live, as thousands of people flood into the Toowoomba CBD to watch the iconic parade.

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The Carnival of Flowers Grand Central Parade is always a special day for Toowoomba, but it is even more special for the Drayton Woolworths team.

Every year, the Woolworths float has children and families of Woolworths workers participate on the flower-filled day. They also invite a family selected by the Children’s Hospital Foundation as part of a longstanding partnership.

Drayton Woolworths store manager and float manager Adrian Maynard said the team always looks forward to parade day.

“Bringing the float to life each year is a special moment for myself and the team. We’re proud to be able to support the Children’s Hospital Foundation in all the work that they do.” Mr Maynard said.

(From left) Rebecca Reed with baby Lachlan Reed, Kylie Holgate, and Stella Holgate help prepare the Woolworths float with Capilano Honey mascot, Phoebee

This year two families from the Children’s Hospital Foundation will participate, the Reed family and the Holgate family.

Lachlan Reed was born with chronic kidney disease and at four months old, he went into end-stage renal failure. Since then he has had countless trips to the hospital for lifesaving treatment and is currently undergoing dialysis.

Lachlan’s mum Rebecca Reed said her son was an ambassador for the Children’s Hospital Foundation so they were asked to come along and join in the excitement.

“This is Lachlan’s first time in the parade, where he will be joined by his two sisters,” Ms Reed said.

“(The Children’s Hospital Foundation) is amazing … the amount of things that they do for us is outstanding … they are there to support us every step of the way.”

Stella Holgate is excited to participate in her second parade day

Stella Holgate has spina bifida, a birth defect that affects the spinal cord. This will be her second time participating in the parade, all thanks to the Drayton Woolworths team and the Children’s Hospital Foundation.

“My favourite part of being on the float is waving to my friends and my family … the float (last year) was really cool,” Stella said.

Stella’s mum Kylie Holgate works at Drayton Woolworths and said the parade was a great event for Stella to be involved in.

“The local Woolworths has been involved with the Carnival of Flowers and the Queensland Children’s Hospital for more than 20 years now,” Ms Holgate said.

“It is amazing and (Stella) is so happy … there are lots of kids so she gets to meet new people.

“The support from (Children’s Hospital Foundation) has been amazing since Stella spends a lot of time in and out of the hospital.”

“Saturday is just a lot of fun and a great day to spend with Stella and out of work with the team. Adrian always does a great set-up with the music for the float.

The final touches are being put onto the Woolworths float for the Grand Central Parade

Mr Maynard said that the Carnival of Flowers was an exciting time of the year for the entire Toowoomba team.

“The town comes alive as spring kicks in, and the parks and gardens are a national treasure that sees visitors from across the nation and even around the world calling in,” Mr Maynard said.

Pine Valley Flowers is the Queensland floral supplier for Woolworths. They have donated all of the flowers on the float, including 400 potted plants around the base, 150 down the side and thousands of individual blooms to decorate the front.

“The planning for the float started in March when we got the theme … the rubber really hits the road in the last couple of days when the team from Pine Valley come up with a whole truckload of flowers … to build the fantastic arrangement.” Mr Maynard said.

The Woolworths team will also be joined by special guest ‘Phoebee’ the bee, who is Capilano Honey’s official mascot.

At the end of the parade, all the float flowers will be sold at just a fraction of the retail price, with the money raised going to the Children’s Hospital Foundation. Other items, such as limited edition Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers polo shirts will also be sold to raise money.

Everything you need to know about the Grand Central Parade

The Grand Central Parade is always the showstopper for the Carnival of Flowers, so we’ve got all the details here for making sure your parade day runs smoothly.

The parade begins at 10am and ends at 12pm, Saturday September 16.

The theme is “Create a Buzz” to celebrate bees’ importance in upholding our environment and ecosystem. So expect to see a lot of honeycomb, bees, and blooms this Saturday. More than 70 floats have been entered into the parade, so this year’s event will definitely not disappoint.

Participating in the 2023 Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers and Grand Central Parade is (from left) Dee O'Connor, Julie Thompson, Georgina Bayly and Tracey Ford from Grand Central Shopping Centre. Picture: Rhylea Millar

Southern Queensland Country Tourism chief executive Peter Homan said they were expecting around 80,000 people to line the roads for the parade.

“It should be a great day, with the weather expected to be nice and sunny. It will be an amazing event,” Mr Homan said.

“The parade always brings in great business for local restaurants and pubs. Nothing disperses money more throughout Toowoomba and the outer Toowoomba region than the Carnival of Flowers.”

Participating in the 2023 Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers and Grand Central Parade are Miriam Spina (front) and Robyn Hintz from the Toowoomba Metropolitan Rotary Club. Picture: Rhylea Millar

Starting from the top of Herries and Hume streets, the parade will then continue along Herries St then turn right onto Ruthven St. Then it will turn right onto Margaret St and left onto Hume St. The parade will then finish on the Godsall Street Oval on the corner of Hume and Godsall streets.

From 5am until 2pm, the intersection of Margaret and Ruthven streets through to the intersection of Hume and Margaret streets will be closed off. Ruthven St to Herries and Little streets will be closed from 5am to 7pm. You can access the full list of road closures here.

Multiple parking options are available including on Neil St and the bottom of Hume St. Residential and business access is permitted.

Grand Central manager Tracey Ford said the excitement doesn’t end when the parade finishes.

“We are excited to invite the community back to the centre after the parade to enjoy more festivities, entertainment and giveaways. It’s hours of entertainment for the whole family,” Ms Ford said.

“We are even giving away 1000 dining gift cards on Saturday; so you can grab lunch on us at Grand Central.”

Grand Central activities will continue to run from Saturday, September 16 to Sunday, October 1.