Western Downs event, Dalby’s Delicious and Delightful Festival at risk of cancellation

A major Dalby event that has united the town for more than a decade is under threat, with organisers putting a call out for volunteers so the family-friendly festival can continue next year.

Hundreds of foodies gathered at Dalby's epic Delicious and Delightful Festival 2022. Picture: Emily Devon

A massive family festival held in the Western Downs is under threat of being cancelled next year due to a low number of people available to help organise it, with the event having grown in size enormously over the past decade.

The Dalby Delicious and Delightful Festival has been hosted by the Dalby Welcoming Community Committee for 13 years, with the goal of bringing families together to celebrate diversity as well as the produce that the region is best known for.

President of the committee Beth Wood said the team of volunteers took to social media earlier this week to call for extra help in organising the festival.

“We’re a small group and we rely on community members to support us,” she said.

“We’ve got a couple of key people who will be unavailable at festival time next year and we thought it was prudent to go out and see who was out there and willing to be involved.”

Dalby woman, Beth Wood, receives 'Citizen of the Year' Award for Australia Day 2023. Picture: contributed

The Citizen of the Year award recipient said the committee were seeking between 10 to 15 volunteers to take on a small portfolio whether it be helping organise the lantern parade, or multicultural dancers, as well as 50 to 100 people to help set the physical festival up and take it down at the end of the day.

“It’s quite labour intensive,” she said.

“We’ve tried a number of ways to do it over the years and we were fortunate last year that a sponsor who instead of giving us a quantity of money, gave us their time which was magical.”

The festival, which has always been hosted in the fourth week of August, has grown an enormous amount since its origin in 2010 with only a few food stalls.

Hundreds of foodies gathered at Dalby's epic Delicious and Delightful Festival 2022. Picture: Emily Devon

“I think it would be devastating for the community,” Ms Wood said.

“We see that Dalby Delicious and Delightful Festival is an amazing celebration of our community and its diversity.

“It’s a family friendly event that draws about 7000 people. I always hoped it would get bigger and bigger, we probably had 300 to 400 people come along to the first event.”

While the event’s success has pushed new challenges onto the team, like finding more people to organise the festival, Ms Wood has faith the community will rally around it.

Hundreds of foodies gathered at Dalby's epic Delicious and Delightful Festival 2022. Picture: Emily Devon

“When push comes to shove, when it’s much closer to (the event) you tend to get the support,” she said.

“It’s still nine months away. We’re looking at a whole variety of different ways of how we can manage it, and I’m sure we will come up with a solution, but we thought it was a really good opportunity to take it to the community and see if there’s anyone that would like to be involved.”

For residents who wish to express their interest in joining the committee or volunteering their time on the day, they can contact Beth Wood directly on 0419 645 671 or send an email to [e-mail]

Originally published as Western Downs event, Dalby’s Delicious and Delightful Festival at risk of cancellation