Posted 13/4/2010

Festival of the Wind  11^th April 2010

Emu Park’s Lions club’s Festival of the Wind, got of to a flying start late on Sunday morning when a nice northerly sea breeze finally arrived at Fisherman’s Beach and settled in for the rest of the day.  First to get their kites into the air were our skilful band of kite enthusiast who come to Emu Park each year from as far south as Sydney to support our growing festival.  Their giant colourful kites in the form of fish, tigers and fluttering butterflies rose up in the clear blue sky to the delight of children and parents alike. The Mums, Dads and the kids soon followed with their own kites and by mid afternoon air space was at a premium with crossed kite string a fairly common sight.   As the tide receding giving us even more beach space, the Keppel bay Sailing Club race fleet arrived from Yeppoon with a load of hungry sailors who set off up the beach intent on filling up on health food and drinks but quickly settled for a quick steak burger and chips.

 

By 1PM conditions were ideal for the 48 competitors in our Rokkaku fighting kite competition. After six exciting elimination heats the grand final was won by the Great Australian Icecreamery which sponsored the last Rokkaku still in the sky  Organisers were lucky that only one Rokkaku kite ended up stuck in the upper branches of a pine tree in Bell Park. 

 

On the breach free sandcastle building and frisbee throwing competitions in the middle of the day were followed late afternoon by the Rec Club Olympics. Novelty races included the good old fashioned three legged race and the wheelbarrow race which provided just as much fun for the entrants as those looking on.  All kinds of tricks were tried by the contestants to win races but not much escaped our eagle eyed judges.

 

The day finished with a wonderful concert featuring Ross McIntyre with his incredible one man band act together with the Voices of Capricorn Choir and our ever popular Capricorn Coast Dolphin Line dancers.    Our great family day out finally came to an end with hundreds of people taking up vantage points on the singing ship hill to watch  the usual spectacular Wide Bay Australia fireworks display.

 

The Emu Park Lion’s club wishes to thank all our many sponsors, volunteers and everybody who brought raffle tickets to help make this free family day possible The raffle winners were;  1st Prize;  One night’s accommodation at Heron Island Resort, including return transfers and all meals for two people. (Value $660)  won by Ticket  280-   J Harris, Wandal    2nd Prize. Keppel Bay day cruise for two people on the sailing vessel Grace provided by Sail Capricornia - (value $230) won by Ticket 454     M. Lancaster    Emu Park.  3rd Prize  One nights accommodation at  Capricorn Resort in an Ocean View Suite for two adults & two children” (Value approx $230) won by  Ticket  343     L Krokowski   Yeppoon.   The winner of the Emu Park Chemmart basket of goodies was Ticket 26B      Joy Sayers  Emu Park

 

Photos of the day are available on the festival’s web site www.festivalofthewind.com

  

Posted  21/3/2010

By Jack ince  - as published in ” Spectator magazine March 26 2010

One of the Capricorn Coast’s most colourful events, the annual Emu Park Lions Club Festival of the Wind is on again and organisers are promising another fun-filled, family day out.

The Festival is an inexpensive and alcohol free day out for families held in conjunction with a giant market day at Bell Park.

It will be held at Fishermen’s Beach on Sunday,  April 11 from 10am until dusk.

The Emu Park Lion’s make it a free day for families in appreciation of the support of local business and individuals who have backed up the club’s own fund raising efforts throughout the previous 12 months.

Since 1999, the Emu Park Lion’s Festival of the Wind on Emu Park’s Fishermen’s Beach has been growing as a major attraction for regional families and tourist and while kites and wind power are the focus of the festival, a variety of beach games and free-entry competitions with cash prizes help make it a day out for the whole family.

World class kite flying professionals will fill the sky with their spectacular giant kites, providing, of course, the sea breeze co-operates for the day!

Families and older kids can learn to fly duel line stunt kites at free kite clinics through the day and kit kites will also be available for only $5. Volunteers will be available to assist with assembly and decoration.

The Rokkaku Fighting kite competition will run during the afternoon. These kites are sponsored by local businesses with competitors attempting to crash their opponent’s kites while keeping their own in the air until the last kite remaining takes away the coveted annual trophy.

Visitors can enter the many free competitions which carry cash prizes and a sand sculpture competition gives creative individuals and families a chance to show their talent with buckets and spades.

How far can you throw a Frisbee?  Test you skill with the paper plane flying competition.

Family tickets will also be available for carnival rides catering for all age groups with multi-ride tickets and time-based tickets available.

On the water, The Keppel Bay Sailing Club is planning a return race from Yeppoon to Emu Park and depending on the winds, the fleet is expected to arrive around lunch time.  A rubber ducky will take people out to try their hand at sailing and the Seaspray Rec Club will be on hand to organise beach games and have sea kyaks for hire.

The Kayaks may even come in handy to rescue any kite which manage to break away from their owners and fly out to sea!

The Lions Club will be catering food and drinks and a live entertainment program will start 4.30pm, leading into a spectacular Wide Bay Australia Fireworks starting as soon as it gets dark enough (circa 6.30pm - 7Ppm).

Contacts;
Market stall site bookings, please call on 0407 178 011
Rokkaku Kite sponsorship, please call Ross on 4939 6036
All other enquiries, please call Bill on 4938 7849

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