Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers: Business owners concerned about loss of Festival of Food and Wine

Toowoomba business owners want more input and feedback on the future of the Carnival of Flowers, after it was revealed the Festival of Food and Wine was facing the chop for 2025.

Toowoomba’s business community is calling for answers from council after it was revealed the Festival of Food and Wine would likely be scrapped from this year’s Carnival of Flowers.

The move by new carnival organisers to remove or reshape the three-day event, which attracts more than 10,000 people every year to Queens Park, has also blindsided several councillors.

Nearly half of elected officials contacted by News Corp said they were not aware of any changes to the FoFW for 2025, with one councillor saying they felt “disrespected”.

It comes days after News Corp revealed the festival – which has featured national music acts – had disappeared from the carnival’s sponsorships prospectus, being replaced by a new event called “Small Plates and Chilled Local Tunes”.

Kate Ceberano on stage at the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers Festival of Food and Wine, Sunday, September 15, 2024. Picture: Bev Lacey

Now small business owners and the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce have urged organisers to open communication lines with vendors and other suppliers over the future of the whole carnival.

Chamber chief executive Todd Rohl said there had been no feedback since the news broke on Saturday.

“We haven’t gotten any feedback from them at all — we’ve emailed relevant officers, but I don’t think it’s an officer issue,” he said.

“It’s frustrating when we all want events to happen, we all want to support the business community.

“Why don’t they include us in the planning and execution?”

OMG Decadent Donuts franchise co-owner Rob Sampson, who has struggled to secure a spot as a vendor in the past, said the loss of the FoFW and its on flow of patronage into the CBD would be damaging for many businesses.

OMG Decadent Donuts Toowoomba franchise owners Robert Gillis (right) and Rob Sampson have officially moved to a bricks and mortar store inside the Australia Arcade in the CBD.

“There is no clear message or transparency — I chatted to another business in the CBD and she was talking about how the majority of the companies being used are not even local,” he said.

“(It being scrapped) would be a detriment to the CBD businesses, because it’s a significant increase of business into the CBD.

“Other business owners were saying, half of the people coming out of it are too intoxicated, but the other half are going into the CBD and spending money, and they wouldn’t have otherwise been there.

“It’s an event that has won them awards and attracted large crowds, they’re replacing it with dull-downed events, which is a concern.

“The fact they are being tight-lipped suggest they are concerned about it too.”

Another anonymous business owner said he had held concerns about how sustainable the growth of Food and Wine had been over the past five years.

Councillor James O'Shea. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“As it sits, to be honest, you’d be better off going to the casino with red or black (as to whether you make money) — I don’t even think they would’ve made money last year,” he said.

“I’ve been saying it’s been getting too big and expensive for years.”

Council’s carnival spokesman, councillor James O’Shea, said he had not been told if the festival had been reshaped but noted crowd sizes had likely dropped in 2024 compared to 2023.

Mr O’Shea said he had full confidence in the new organising team to deliver on the council’s strategic framework.

“Each year they look at different things, I was aware the team was working on what it looked like for 2025,” he said.

“I knew that they’d be presenting the ideas for the Carnival of Flowers in 2025 (at the upcoming meeting), which is the same for every year.

“Did I know any specific details? No, that’s why we have an operational team.

“The carnival is in a pretty good place and the opportunity to build on that is there, so I have faith in the team that will deliver something that’s best for the community.”