By CAITLIN CROWLEY
MOMENTUM is building behind a push from Toowoomba’s food and arts community to lure tourists up the range outside of the city’s traditional peak season of spring.
Major new events are seeking funding from Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) to get off the ground, while small businesses are also experimenting with new initiatives to boost visitation through the colder months.
Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce has made a formal application to TRC to be the major sponsor of “Autumn Feast” – a ten-day celebration of local food, music and art planned for next year.
Kristen O’Brien (pictured), who runs popular local food directory and blog Dine Darling Downs said the event would give artists, musicians and hospitality businesses a “ten-day banner” to collaborate under.
“From a tourism perspective this will be fantastic,” O’Brien said.
“We’ve got a captive audience right down the hill – there’s over two million people in Brisbane – it is an opportunity for them to come and spend time in the city and autumn is very different to spring, it’s a spectacular season in Toowoomba.
“It’s going to be regional as well, so from Clifton to Oakey, up to Crows Nest, there’ll be little boutique events, family events, all sorts of different events for people to come and enjoy.
“Unfortunately we’re not ready to say it is definitely going ahead. I really wish that I was. We have submitted an application to Council to come onboard as a major sponsor of the event.
“Once we can get that and if we can get that we are going to be all hands on deck and getting ready to prepare for next year because it will just be a fantastic ten days in our city.”
O’Brien told the Caller that while Toowoomba had an incredible arts, food and music culture, much more could be done to celebrate what the city had to offer.
“I think we are letting our arts community down a little bit,” she said.
“Everything on our program will be local – the food, the musicians, the artists.
“We’re not bringing in any food vendors, we’re not bringing in any famous name artists because we think we’ve got some of the country’s best artists right here in our own city.”
That will be a distinct point of difference from the Festival of Food and Wine during Carnival of Flowers, which focuses on bringing in big-name headlining acts.
“It really is all about the community,” O’Brien said.
“There will be ticketed events but there’s also going to be free events, family-run events and there’s just so much we have to celebrate here in this season.”
Meanwhile the Toowoomba Gallery has launched a new art competition in a bid to lure and secure talent, while promoting the city as a must-see tourism destination all year round.
“The Next Big Thing” art prize has already attracted interest from artists nationwide, with entries open until May 31.
Gallery co-owner Bec Statton said she was looking to help build the hype around the city itself.
“We get a lot of artists coming in and asking if they can be in the gallery, so part of it was a way to consolidate that,” Statton said.
“But we also wanted to use this to just draw attention to the town as well. Our big push is to get people to look at Toowoomba, because we think Toowoomba is really amazing.
“The title, ‘The Next Big Thing’ is about the artist but it’s also about Toowoomba being the next big thing.
“We’re one of the only places in Queensland with actual, four distinct seasons, so I really want to see us play on that.”
Statton said the gallery had been considering how it could “add another layer to the town”, and ideally the art prize would eventually become part of a wider event, such as Autumn Feast.
“We’re so close to the coast and so close to Brisbane – it’s the perfect weekend or perfect day trip,” she said.
“So we want to sell that, but we want to sell the whole town. So it’s not just coming to visit a gallery – it’s coming to do all sorts of things.”
Statton said there was a growing movement of Toowoomba creatives who wanted to try new ideas and events.
“I think everyone is starting to realise that the best thing to do is band together and promote each other, and promote the town.
“Instead of having the same things in the same places all the time – how can we move it around and make it a little bit different.”
