Saturday, 19th November 2011

Check out pictures from Aquafest 2011!

This Community Festival was first discussed at the end of 2010. The concept was to build a community spirit and raise funds to support those in need by providing more regular community family fun days

The Coomera Chamber of Commerce met with Lions and Rotary and a decision was reached to progress the idea.

After many meetings Aquafest was born, initially as a 1 day event to be held annually with the vision to expand to 2 days in the future.

After 6 months of regular meetings and planning, sponsorship money finally began to flow. We did not want to begin the project without the basic costs of insurance, staging, performers etc covered. Once these aspects had been taken care of all money raised at the event would be able to go back into the community.

MyiHub Website Design kindly donated their time and expertise to designing the website and implementing Facebook, Twitter and blogging to begin building community communication.

This website will be an open book for everyone to enjoy the building of this major event backed by the Gold Coast City Council and Marine Queensland. Even though the event is not in the Coomera business centre it still caters to families with access by car or train (bus) and boat. It will be possible for boats to be moored for the music concert component and stay overnight if they wish.

Anyone who wishes to attend but cannot obtain transport will be able to register on the website and we will organize assistance.
A Graph will record the money collected and how the money is eventually allocated. 

“Chuck A Duck” is a creative idea for businesses and locals to sponsor 1 – 10 rubber ducks under their name. The race winners can choose the organization/charity they wish the “prize money” allocated to.

On the day attendees will be able to choose whom they wish to win by donating a gold coin and barracking for their favourite sponsor.  The person who chooses the winning sponsor can nominate the charity/organization to receive the gold coin donation.

Local community organizations and businesses will be invited to set up stalls informing locals to what is available and open the communication for ongoing assistance especially to new comers to the area.

Dragon Boat Racing:
The boats will be available for individuals and businesses to buy seats @ $20 each and compete against other businesses / organizations for a trophy.

Raft Race
Build your own Raft – from recycled material and compete for a prize.

Other attractions are family rides, fashion parade, supporting musicians, fireworks, Bee Gees Tribute Band, market stalls, car display, catch and release fishing competition and much more.

A great family fun day with a huge potential benefit to the community.

We want you to become involved!! Mark it in your diary.

Tell your neighbours too!

Start the donation graph rising by purchasing a ticket for $10 Adults (children free).

The organisers of Aquafest are very pleased to announce that Marine Queensland has pledged to support and actively participate in this year's Aquafest. For those of you who might not know, Marine Queensland is the peak industry association that represents the interests of the marine industry in Queensland. Its membership spans all facets of the recreational and light commercial marine industry including:

• Marine Brokers
• Marine Dealers and Syndicators
• Marine craft manufacturers
• Charter and Marine Tourism Operators
• Marine Surveyors
• The Queensland Recreational Boating Council (Recreational Boat Clubs)
• Marina Operators and Developers
• Boat licensing trainers and educators
• Marine infrastructure providers
• and Marine Insurers and Financiers

So a big thanks to Marine Queensland, and we will see you later this year at Aquafest! Click here to read the full letter from Marine Queensland.

Sponsorship has been kicked off with an offer from the Gold Coast City Council and event organisers are now confident Gold Coast corporations will soon be on board. Please contact us to find out how you can get involved in this inagural event.

Between the Coomera Chamber of Commerce, Lions Club of Coomera, Rotary Club of Hope Island and Gold Coast City Council, Aquafest is set to help raise much needed funds for community groups. This will be a fantastic event and opportunity to build community spirit and assist local businesses and community groups.