BRISBANE The city almost said goodbye this year to its annual Racecourse Road Carnival, an event that promotes community art, which has been part of its social calendar since 1993.
Fortunately, Brisbane Airport Corporation and the Brisbane City Council stepped in and LOUD events managed to deliver the carnival for the city’s northside.
“Racecourse Road Carnival is one of the fortunate local carnivals in that Brisbane Airport Corporation comprehend the value in supporting the local community,” said Marianne Edmonds, director, LOUD events. “They are one of the largest employers in the area and have a vested interest in the carnival. We could not deliver this event without them.”
The event programme this year is about integrating local schools with local activity hubs, such as hoola hooping demonstrations, swing schools to Bollywood demonstrations. In addition, a new stage area was included for: food presentations where participants could learn about cooking gluten-free meals, edible gardens in small spaces, sustainable cooking and more.
LOUD approached a number of specialists to assist with sponsoring the labour and production to reduce cost and then approached musicians and entertainers to help deliver four stages of programmed entertainment.
“Engaging subcontractors for free who could charge for their services such as slides, rides, petting zoos also enables us to keep the cost down,” Edmonds said. “However, obviously, there comes a point where we want to pay people who are providing their service such as staging and entertainment.”
Despite the lack of funding, this year’s Racecourse Road Carnival was a success with more than 12,000 people attending the event even with the ominous weather.
Edmonds is concerned the festivals like this will be harder to stage in the coming years as corporate funding dwindle. She points out the increasing costs of logistics and rising insurance fees as well as other expenses for clean toilets, stages, audio, tables, chairs, electricity, street closures, traffic management plans, music licenses, event permits and more.
“It would be a tragedy if one of Brisbane’s original festivals disappeared because they didn’t receive adequate funding. In the end, it will be the local community who suffer.”
Gigi Onag
