Big Mango turns 24

Bowen Tourism and Business team members Leanne Abernethy and Cindy Tonks with the Big Mango. Photo supplied

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It’s been a big week for Bowen’s iconic Big Mango, which celebrated it’s 24^th birthday on May 25th.

Named Queensland’s “Best Big thing” in 2025, the tourist attraction is 10 metres tall, and is located next to the Bowen Visitor Information Centre – where you can buy a large range of mango-themed products, including Bowen’s much-loved mango sorbet.  

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Bowen is the Australian birthplace of the Kensington Pride variety of mango, also known as the “Bowen Special”, introduced from India in 1871.

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The Big Mango is a replica of that variety and is suitably lush in colour, having been repaired three years ago to ensure it was “ripe” for its 21st.

Manager of Bowen Tourism and Business, Leanne Abernethy said the Big Mango was an important tourist attraction for the Whitsundays region.

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“We have welcomed a record number of people at the Bowen Visitor Information Centre in recent years and there is no doubt the Big Mango is one of the major attractions in the region,” she said.

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The Big Mango was famously “stolen” in a publicity stunt by Nandos in 2014 as part of the launch of a new mango and chicken product.

As part of that promotion, Nandos had a 6-metre mango built, which they set up in Federation Square in Melbourne, claiming they had found the Big Mango.

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That structure is now known as the “Little Mango” and has been installed at Bowen’s Front Beach, next to the information booth – so Bowen actually has two big mangos.

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