PORT DOUGLAS CARNIVALE 2010 UNDERWAY

For 10 magical days and nights each May (May 20-30th 2010), the festival of Carnivale takes over the seaside resort village of Port Douglas as visitors and locals engage in a kalidescope of free and ticketed events. Let life pick you up and twirl you around this May – the weather’s amazing and it’s the perfect time to visit. There’s music, arts, sports, food, culture and all styles of entertainment…and absolutely every reason you need to head to Port Douglas. As the event’s tag line proclaims, Carnivale is indeed ‘a taste of paradise!’.

Now 16 years old, Carnivale has grown from a street fiesta to a broad spectrum supported by the Queensland Events Regional Development Program which involves the entire community.

There are family favourites like the Street Parade, the Meridien Marina Seafood Extravaganza and the Four Mile Beach Family Fun Day. Get a taste of paradise at the Sheraton Mirage Longest Lunch, or Food, Wine & A Taste of Port, or watch great Aussie chefs compete in the Gourmet Gladiators. Sports lovers can play in the Port Douglas Golf Challenge held at Sea Temple Golf Club and Mirage Country Club, or catch the action in the Exemplar Clipper Cup sailing regatta. Talent is celebrated at the Tin Shed Fashion Awards, the Douglas Songwriters Competition and other community events like the Airing of the Quilts.

In 2010, the event line-up has changed from previous years and the first weekend celebrations open with a new opening cocktail party in masquerade at the Sugar Wharf, followed by signature cuisine event, Food, Wine & A Taste of Port held outdoors in Rex Smeal Park on the Saturday night (this event usually runs on the final weekend of Carnivale and this represents a major change).

This year for the first time, Carnviale will have a theme song ‘Everything is OK’ by talented local musician Omid Masters. This terrific upbeat song perfectly captures the free spirit of Port Douglas and the essence of Carnivale.

Port Douglas Carnivale is benefiting from Significant Regional Event Scheme (SRES) funding under the Queensland Events Regional Development Program (QERDP). The QERDP is an investment program designed to extend the flow of economic and social benefits of events to regional Queensland. The SRES celebrates and supports those events that have a particularly strong track record of growth and economic success for their region. A state-wide initiative, the program is committed to enhancing existing events in regional Queensland, as well as assisting in the establishment of new events. Since the QERDP began in 2001, more than $12.5 million has been invested in 600 regional events, an indicator of the important role these events play in their communities and wider Queensland.

For the full calendar of supported events visit www.queenslandevents.com.au.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 5:37 pm and is filed under Media and tagged with Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.