Local businesses will be proudly showcased at the 2022 Childers Festival thanks to signage created with the help of the Friends of the Childers Festival committee.
Made up of a number of local business members and residents, Friends of the Festival provides a raft of knowledge and assistance to the planning and execution of the Childers Festival.
This year, the committee will have special signage to indicate which of the business stalls are local to the area when festival day returns on Sunday 31 July.
Member Scott Stedman said the committee met once a month to help plan for the region's biggest event of the year.
“Friends of the Childers Festival has been in operation for a few years now, helping to advise the planning of the festival with our local knowledge,” Scott said.
“We are all locals and some members have been attending the festival from the beginning so they have a lot of knowledge as we have had a lot of changes in the events over they many years.
“We are looking forward to the festival this year, with it being the first year in the last few to go ahead without restrictions.”
The festival attracts tens of thousands of people to Childers each year and provides a welcome boost to the local economy.
Scott said it was an event the town looked forward to.
“This year there will be an influx of people wanting to get out more given the lack of events that could go ahead the past few years,” he said.
“The businesspeople, hotels, cafes, restaurants, bakeries, everyone that is open during that period benefits and it is a huge boost to the local economy.”
Childers Festival good for local business
Scott said the range of events on offer during the four days provided a number of local businesses the chance to showcase what they had on offer.
“We are looking forward to Little Italy on the Saturday night as we are looking forward to people heading along for the night prior to the festival, making a weekend of it and getting a taste of Italy here in Childers,” he said.
“The Feathers and Scales Tour which involves a bus trip to Flying High Bird sanctuary and Snakes Down Under and Mammino ice cream which is also a fantastic new addition to the program.
“There are lots of new acts coming to the festival, including to Opera by the Lake out at Lake Redbrook as well as new acts on the stage on Saturday night in Crescent Street.
“Not everything is new of course, with the much love Cane Fire Tour remaining a highlight of the program and is always a popular pre-festival day event.”
Scott said the event provided a unique opportunity for locals and visitors alike to get everything they may normally have to go to a bigger city to get, all in the one place in Childers.
“There is so much to see and do, the entertainment is something that you do not see every day, for example Kate Ceberano, Danny Fai Fai, the Blues Brothers, they do not come to Childers every day,” he said.
“There are a range of foods, the German sausages, the langos, the Saturday night the Italian food stalls which will be serving up great meals, which we do not have every day or week in, week out.”
The event, which is renowned for stopping traffic on the Bruce Highway, is a novelty for both locals and visitors alike.
“I think it is great that we can close off the Bruce Highway for the day and people can wander up and down the highway to experience this event that is all free,” he said.
“There is no entry fees, it is a free day, you can decide how much you spend.”
You can find the full program and purchase tickets for the upcoming Childers Festival events here.
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Really excited about upcoming Childers Festival and will be attending many of the events over the three days. Huge fan of Kate Ceberano and having been to many Childers festivals over the years I think this one has a great line up of entertainment.