GODS SMILE ON PORT DOUGLAS DURING CARNIVALE’S FIRST WEEKEND
Port Douglas, 18th May, 2014 – The first weekend of Port Douglas Carnivale saw perfect weather with great crowds out and about enjoying the events.
Roy Weavers, general manager of Port Douglas Carnivale, said the great weather during the weekend had brought everyone out.
“The Gods must be smiling – and we have had great crowds so far. People are loving the atmosphere down here at Rex Smeal Park for the Backyard Games, which culminates the opening weekend full of great events so far,” he said.
Friday night’s street parade was a crowd pleaser, with the number of float entries on par with last year at around 30.
This year, the judges awarded best overall float to the Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre, best community float to the Port Douglas Surf Club, best corporate float to Quicksilver and for the first time a special Endeavour Award created on the night by the judges and funded personally by Federal MP Warren Entsch and State MP David Kempton, which was awarded to The Jabiru Jokers.
“They thought it was brilliant that a whole street had entered the street parade,” Mr Weavers added.
At the Sheraton Mirage Longest Lunch, 225 guests mingled with celebrities including Australian musician Bernard Fanning, and cricket greats Allan Border, and Michael Kasprowicz. More than 17,000 was also raised for the Leukaemia Foundation.
On Saturday a huge crowd came to watch the Yabusame Tournament, which was a highlight of the Family Beach Day on Four Mile Beach.
“This was a high drawcard for people and we were overwhelmed by the support of people who came out to watch the very first accredited tournament outside of Japan.
“We are still finalising numbers but we believe there were in excess of 5000 people on the beach for this.”
As Saturday evening fell, Port Douglas restaurants and hotels were filling as people stayed overnight to enjoy other Carnivale events including the Rio Carnivale Party at the Combined Club, the Bullride at Daintree Station, the FNQ Heat fixture and an impromptu concert from Bernard Fanning at QT Port Douglas.
Mr Weavers said he was looking forward to the coming events which included the Exemplar Clipper Cup, the Port Douglas Village Street Art and Music Festival, The Big Laugh, Palates of Port, Food, Wine & A Taste of Port, Taste Port Douglas and Seafood Extravaganza.
“There is still so much more to come and we are expecting even bigger crowds next week with the Screaming Jets to perform as well as other highlight events including Palates of Port and Taste Port Douglas, with Colin Fassnidge, Ian Curley and Massimo Mele taking to the cooking stage.”
Visit www.carnivale.com.au for more information on upcoming events and to book tickets.
