Community
24 September, 2023
Colourful fashions
THOUSANDS of people have taken part in Innisfail and District Historical Society’s Tropical Art Deco Festival which has been hailed a huge success by organisers.
Convenor Kerry Linton said about 2000 people participated in events over the five days.
“A number of events were booked out and most well attended, with the Sunday vintage market a huge success in terms of numbers of people through the door,” she said.
“The verandah entertainment during the day set the scene for the art deco era, with visitors vowing to return, with many patrons and vendors dressed in fashions of the era.
“The vintage items on display and for sale looked right at home in the stately art deco shire hall while music of the era played all day.
“Many people went to a lot of trouble to dress up for events, including Friday night’s roaring 20s basket cabaret, held in the shire hall, where Melissa Western and her jazz band from Brisbane put on an amazing show, with local dance schools, singing groups and soloists taking to the stage.
“Saturday’s high tea at the Innisfail RSL Club also saw many patrons dressing in style with prizes awarded for best dressed in several categories.”
Ms Linton said the trivia night was very well-attended and lots of fun with patrons dressing in a spectacular fashion as well, with the men’s fashion winner looking like a character straight out of the 1930s movie ‘Casablanca’.
“I think people are getting into the spirit of the event by dressing up and having some fashionable fun. It’s great to see,” she said.
“Festival patrons travelled from all over, with Cassowary Coast residents well represented among the festival goers over the five-day event, with visitors from Cairns, Townsville, the Tablelands, Sunshine Coast and Mackay swelling the numbers at various events including the shire hall tours and art deco guided history walk.”
Winners of the shop window competition were Random Butterfly, Dancing Divas and Creative Events.
“The organising committee believes that the Tropical Art Deco Festival can grow nto a major destination tourism event for Innisfail over time with the support of local businesses and residents alike, with participation numbers already growing,” Ms Linton said.
