Illuminations Festival lights up Wynnum

Last Saturday saw the very first Illuminations Festival held on the waterfront in Wynnum. Sponsored by local businesses, including naming rights sponsor Remax Advantage, early indications showed that there was enthusiasm in the community to be involved – a thousand lanterns reserved for schoolchildren wanting to take part in the lantern parade were snapped up online inside a few weeks.

Organisers expected around 5,000 to attend, and the weather forecast days before seemed to indicate rain, but as it turned out the weather was perfect on the day. Around 3,000 took part in the lantern parade from central Wynnum down to the foreshore, and total numbers for the whole event were estimated at 8,000-10,000. The festival even made it on to Channel 7 news that night.

Although many comments on social media talked about the long lines at the food stalls and how brief the fireworks display was, the vast majority of attendees mentioned how much they enjoyed themselves on the night, and locals were delighted that the event was held in Wynnum.

The organisers are already planning for a bigger and better Illuminations Festival in 2015.

Did you come along?
Let us know what you thought in the comments below. Better still, complete the short survey (2 minutes) the organisers have put together…

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/V2M6VGT

Main Image: the fire sculpture, designed by local and international artist Daniele Lamarche-Sarvia

See our image gallery from the night… (all photos courtesy James Goss of Square-i.co)