NEWS
Thousands of people flocked to the Teneriffe Festival last weekend, cementing itself in only its third year as one of Brisbane’s premier free community events.
Festival coordinator Nicole Ogilvie said: “We were lucky with the weather; it threatened to rain a few times, but that did not keep the crowds away.”
“Expectations from local businesses were far exceeded when most restaurants and food stalls started running out of stock in the afternoon. Sourced Grocer said that they sold 750 lamb burgers and ran out of food at 4:30pm.
“Other traders recorded record sales which is a healthy injection to the local economy.”
Leafy Teneriffe became a suburb in its own right over three years ago – a move that prompted the first festival there. And it was a hive of activity on Saturday– so much so that the only thing that spoiled the day was a lack of legal street parking anywhere near the event.
“Parking at the festival was an issue,” Nicole admitted, “but we did remind people on our promotional material to catch public transport to the event. The CityCat was one of the main forms of public transport to the event now that the new Teneriffe Festival terminal is in place. The ferries delivered thousands of people from throughout Brisbane to Teneriffe on the day.”
Nicole said the day’s highlights included:
• Sheep shearing on the riverfront that kept the kids intrigued.
• A turbo boosted kidzone that kept the little ones happy while the parents were able to sip on a caffeine nipple and keep their energy up for the day long activities.
• The Golden Pig Food and Wine School demonstrated how to cook with lamb and was very popular with the punters.
• Music on the main stage that had the crowd dancing in the streets, with Lachy Doley from Sydney entertained the crowds with his soulful antics and local band Kooii represented their melodic treasures that had the crowd swaying to their brand of reggae. The music continued into the night with big brassy band Bullhorn playing covers and originals finishing off the night with Cuban Latin dance band Chukale.
• The Youth Music Industries stage also pumped out music from bands that will be ‘the next big things’
• The Jazz stage in the DoubleOne 3 Laneway was also heaving as patrons listened to great jazz while drinking cocktails in jars provided by Alfred and Constance.
• The White Label Noba Fashion parade had a bevy of VIPS and fashionistas crammed into the DoubleOne 3 Laneway
Nicole said the crowds were very well behaved and everyone appeared to enjoy all the activities on offer.
“We could not have put this festival on without the generous support of local business. There are too many to mention but special thanks to Brisbane City Council, Hamilton Ward, Westpac, Merthyr Village, Mirvac and DoubleOne 3 for supporting the event this year,” she said.
“The Teneriffe Festival committee is especially happy with the festival outcomes and are looking forward to steering the event next year to make sure that the Festival continues to grow and serve the community of Teneriffe.”
Nicole also thanked the New Farm Historical Society for creating such informative history plaques about Teneriffe and for helping to create the festival’s historical component.
• Did you go to the Teneriffe Festival ? Send in your comments and photos to the Teneriffe Festival facebook page. They would love to hear from you.
