Great Pyramid Race among events supported financially by Cairns Regional Council

The Great Pyramid Race and Country Fair for The Great Pyramid Race to be held on 5th August is among the 18 recipients to share in almost $200,000 through the Cairns Regional Council’s Community Partnerships Grant.

The Great Pyramid Race has received $13,500 in funding with the event and the supporting pop-up stalls, entertainment and music, children’s activities, rides and amusements having become the foremost community event for Gordonvale and surrounding areas, growing every year since its inception in 1959.

Festival activities include the main event, The Great Pyramid Race, as well as other sporting activities including a 6.2 kilometre Race to the Base and a 1,800 metre Race around Alley Park (for competitors from 10 years of age), and a Charity Fun Run for all ages. There is also be a diverse selection of performers, musicians, workshops and roving entertainers to keep the crowds enthralled.

Cairns Regional Council has also approved $25,000 to support the annual Babinda Harvest Festival, which will be held on 16th September 2023.

The 59th annual festival is expected to bring more than 5000 residents and visitors together to celebrate and enjoy activities entertainment, arts, and culture.

A tractor pull, vintage cars and farm equipment will be on display at Bill Wakeham Park, while the Grand Street Parade, market stalls and entertainment breathe life into Munro Street.

Local businesses also decorate their premises as they vie for the prestigious Cane Knife Awards.

Mayor Bob Manning said the festival was a popular fixture in the city’s southern corridor and added “the Babinda Harvest Festival is a wonderful opportunity to brings everyone together to enjoy the community atmosphere.”

“In 2023, we have now provided $432,000 to 38 different community events, supporting a diverse range of sport, cultural and community groups that contribute to wellbeing in the region.”

The Cairns Italian Festival Inc has also received $25,000 support for the 2023 event, which starts at the end of next month.

Now in its second year, the Festival was formed to celebrate the region’s rich Italian history and to provide an opportunity for the local Italian community to rethink how the Italian story is told in Cairns and the surrounding regions.

This year, the Festival has been expanded to include the Innisfail Pasta and Sugo Festa and the Mareeba Moriconi-Bomben Football Cup.

Held from 28th July to 6th August, a highlight of the Festival is La-Festa Food and Wine to be held at Fogarty Park on Saturday 29th July.

Community Partnership Grant recipients include:

• Babinda Harvest Festival Inc. for the Babinda Harvest Festival on 16 September – $25,000

• Cairns Italian Festival Inc. for Family Night and La Festa – Food & Wine on 29 July – $25,000

• The Great Pyramid Race and Country Fair for The Great Pyramid Race on 5 August – $13,500

• Edge Hill United Football Club for First Nations Football Day on 2 July – 2,858

• North Queensland International Motor Raceway Association Incorporated for Thunder in the Canefields on 8 to 15 July – $8,850

• Alliance Française de Cairns Inc for Bastille Day on 16 July – $1,000

• Cairns Athletics Inc. for Coral Coast Athletics Competition on 29 to 30 July – $5,800

• Cairns Hindu Samaj Inc.for Ganeshotsav on 30 September – $5,000

• Cairns Judo Club Incorporated for 2023 Queensland State SAMBO Championships on 22 to 23 July – $2,300

• Senjo Cairns Inc for the Queensland Knockdown on 29 July – $6,000

• FNQ Volunteers Inc for VEXPO 2023 on 30 July – $4,700

• Japanese Society of Cairns Inc. for Japan Bon Dance Festival 2023 on 12 August – $18,000

• Endeavour Foundation for Great Endeavour Rally on 31 August to 10 September$2,700

• UMI Arts Limited for Big Talk One Fire Festival on 16 September – $16,800

• Cairns Multicultural Committee for Cairns CARMA Multicultural Festival on 23 September – $18,100

• Gimuy Walubara Yindinji Elder Corporation for Gimuy Cultural Festival on 30 September – $21,300

• Our Future Mentors Indigenous Corporation for Edor Carnival on 14 October – $14,000

• Redlynch Valley Community Group Inc. for Redlynch Halloween Tunnel of Terror on31 October – $2,108.

*All funding amounts are excluding GST.

Image. The Great Pyramid Race Credit: 2023 Tourism Tropical North Queensland