Snapshots throughout the 61 years of Gladstone Harbour Festival tell a story of community spirit, family fun and live entertainment under brilliant blue skies.
What began as a way to keep people entertained after the Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race is now the event of the year for the Gladstone community.
The first Yacht Race was staged in 1949. A Gladstone plumber, Douglas Norris first came up with the idea that there needed to be a celebration at the end of the Yacht Race. After seeing the start of the race in Brisbane in 1962, on return to Gladstone he saw familiar faces waiting for the yachts to arrive. A committee with the interested locals formed and Mr. Norris was appointed President.
The first one day Festival went ahead on Easter Monday in 1963, with the week before full of ‘Back to Gladstone’ activities.
Over the years the Festival grew and gradually become the full long weekend event it is today.
As of 2023 Gladstone Festivals and Events is an Incorporated Association of volunteers who, together with a small team of paid staff, coordinate and stage some of the region’s major community events, including the annual Gladstone Harbour Festival, CQ Beer + Cider Festival, and Gladstone Ports Corporation’s Port to Park FunD Run.
Featuring high quality local talent and Australian performers, supported by state of the art audio, lighting and video production systems
throughout sideshow alley catering from small children to big kids at heart”
FREE kids activities celebrating arts and crafts, shows, a Scavenger Hunt and the big Festival Easter Egg Hunt
The Great Raft Regatta a celebration of our Harbour and allowing Community Groups, Schools and Businesses to be involved in Festival Celebrations FREE
Fireworks Galore FREE
Food Court entertainment and Festival treats Umbrella events – opportunities for Local Community Groups and Organisations to hold events in conjunction with the Festival
Families
Demographics:
Parents aged 25-45 with (2+ kids ages 5-15)
Want to engage their children in new experiences
Looking for fun ways to build memories with their children
Seeking affordable family experiences
Want something easy to organise
Demographics:
Youth and Older People aged 18-65
Seeking unique food experiences
Open to new things
Open to traveling for events
Wanting to experience high quality live entertainment
Harbourside location
Central Queensland
weather
Free event
Longevity, Maturity and Reputation
Desire to evolve
Strong programming – on and off stages
Value to all Stakeholders
Diverse Volunteer base
Professional approach and appearance
Reliance on Sponsorship and Funding
Limited capacity
Strategic direction not established
Increased cost/risk staging event
Heavy reliance on Volunteers for leadership
No dedicated resources to fundraising
Struggling to find younger Volunteer Leadership
Capacity building and event symposium to increase networking and resource sharing
Criteria to support long-term event growth, including multiyear agreements
Simplify and streamline the sponsorship opportunities
Work collaboratively within the region by engaging
Sponsors, Clubs, Schools and Businesses
Build on current investment relationships and partnerships to generate new funding options
Evolve the Festival highlights to deliver new and exciting events to the program that are reflective of what our audience want
Develop a Volunteer Program to be extended to local Schools, TAFE and Universities
Lack of Volunteers and Volunteer burnout
Reliance on funding
Unexpected loss of funding due to decisions by Sponsors
Lack of bigger Sponsors, multi-year contracts and sustainable financial model
Lack of committee members due to burnout
Unexpected severe weather conditions
Health Pandemic
Community survey via Survey Monkey and Gladstone Festivals and Events Facebook page – specific questions about what the community want to see, options for entertainment and attractions
o Would you attend Festival to see “specific event/attraction”
Key stakeholders – All current sponsors:
o What are their expectations
o What we are doing or what we can do to further align with their key funding criteria, company mission statement, objectives and values
o What are their reasons for sponsoring the Festival
GAPDL
o Survey within 2023 Festival results
o What we can do to help with their statistics for visitor information during Easter
Internal Stakeholders – Festival Committee
o Why they Volunteer
o What we can do better, implement or change
o What they love about the event
To be celebrated as the biggest highlight in the Gladstone events calendar. To have a strong network and engagement in our community.
To be a strong, respected and sustainable organisation.
Continue to bring benefits to a diverse community and audience. Continuous improvement in sustainability within the event with a focus on reduced footprint and waste management. Commitment to public safety.
Reducing social isolation and increasing social inclusion.
Continue to encourage, support and celebrate efforts of volunteers. Captivate visitor imaginations.
Continue to invest in local providers and community groups through the event budget and grant funding to grow their capacity and maintain the local feel of the Festival.
Celebrate and promote creativity, innovation and uniqueness through engaging and active exhibitions for the community and visitors to our region.
To maintain the status and longevity of the Gladstone Harbour Festival as the BEST value for money festival in Australia through annually delivering quality family friendly entertainment that maintains pace with changing community needs.
Building successful brand awareness
Restructuring the event space to allow for introduction of satellite attractions and activities within the event
Researching event trends and developing new and unique experiences for our community
Engage grant writers to financially assist the Festival to deliver the growth of the event
Engage our community by liaising with existing events to align with Festival to increase the program of events and what is on offer during Easter
Be more involved in our community by engaging all levels of business and industry to increase sponsorship and funding
Implement a Junior Committee for future development of the Festival
Implement a dedicated Volunteer Coordinator to engage with and structure Volunteer introduction, training and retention
Increase our Volunteer engagement by hosting more catch ups during the year
Engage senior level high school and university students
Engage other Community Groups to outsource and help operate Festivalrun stalls on specific nights
Liaise with tourism bodies and local government to identify how the event can be of greater assistance in helping to promote tourism to our region and increase the footprint of Easter in Gladstone
Successful draw card to assist in increasing tourism during Easter in Gladstone
The focus this year will be to build on the success and learnings from the delivery of the 2023 Festival through proactive engagement with our Stakeholders and Event Delivery Partners.
This will include work to review the Festival site layout to enhance the community experience of the Festival. At the heart of this will be a commitment to bringing the Vision, Mission and Strategic Plan to life.
In 2025 the focus will be on growing the Festival ‘Family’, which includes Stall Holders, Community Groups, Sponsors and Partners.
This will include developing a new community engagement plan that seeks to broaden the Stakeholder and participant base, as well as developing and implementing a sustainability plan for the Festival by empowering the next generation of Volunteers to immerse themselves in the operations of the Festival.
Throughout this time the Festival will continue to nurture its relationships with existing Community Groups and Partners to ensure their needs are met and they remain a close part of the ‘family’ as the Festival evolves.
The 2025 focus will ensure continued investment in the distinct marketing and branding of the Festival as Central Queensland’s premier event.
Building on the work from 2024 & 2025, this year the focus will be on expanding the partnership arrangements of previous years to deliver new cultural experiences to enjoy.
This may include attracting new key events, top quality entertainment and new Gestival attractions.
It will also seek to better involve businesses within and adjacent to the Festival footprint in the delivery of the Festival to support them and offer more choice for attendees.
Developing and expanding the program of events associated with the Festival will be a priority in 2026.
The focus this year will be on commemorating the 65th Anniversary of the Festival through special events and programming.
The work completed in the previous years on site layout and revitalised programming will support planning for innovative Birthday Celebrations for this milestone event.
Planning for this year will also consider how different areas of the City could be activated and used for the Festival Birthday Celebration, such as other areas around the City or destinations along the Harbour and CBD.
2028 will focus on reviewing outcomes from the previous five years as part of the next stage of future planning. This will include assessing the outcomes achieved for the community, tourism and Gladstone economy from the Festival over time and identifying future outcomes in partnership with Stakeholders.
Building on the success of previous years, learnings from this year’s Festival will inform planning for future years, particularly in engaging with Stakeholders, understanding what local and providers and Community Groups value about the Festival, and continuing to refine the Festival experience for the Community and Volunteers.
