Hundreds of school students helped welcome the turtles in a spectacular display of bright colours, dance and song with an electric atmosphere at the Milbi Festival launch.
Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey welcomed the community to the inaugural Milbi Festival on Friday evening saying it was pleasing to see so many families had turned out to not only celebrate but to welcome the turtles to the Bundaberg Region.
“It’s great to see the explosion of music and colour here tonight, with all the young children dancing and excitement in the air to mark the start of Milbi Festival,” Mayor Dempsey said.
“You can feel that it is only going to get bigger each year.
“It’s also great to see, even though we had the looming storms earlier, that there are so many families here enjoying the evening.
“While we are here celebrating, we are also mindful there are parts of the community doing it tough with the fire threats.”
School students thrilled to be in Milbi Festival launch
Bundaberg West State School student Felix Roberts said he was the representative for his school and he enjoyed the evening a lot.
“It was good to go out there,” Felix said.
“It was a great night with lots of lights, and I liked the steam effect with the lady who was singing a lot, and the combined voices was also nice too.”
St Luke’s Anglican School student Abbie Cook said it was an “amazing night packed full of fun”.
Andrew Perry and Lis Monk enjoyed the festivities before they headed to the Moncrieff Entertainment Centre to watch the Milbi bandabara Concert.
“My son is one of the drum players here tonight, so I am very proud,” Lis said.
“I think this event is good culturally and tourism-wise with the turtles, it’s a great event and there are plenty of kids and families here.”
The Milbi Festival celebrations continue today at the Turtle Art Walk and Family Fun Day that will include art activity stations from Crawford Park through to Jayteens Park.
Earlier report: Sand sculpted into sea life at free Milbi Turtle Art Walk
