Mackay and surrounding areas offer locals and tourists alike a chance to explore the rainforest and coastline, visit significant historical and natural wonders, as well as enjoy food and entertainment. Read ahead to delve into just a few of many wonderful experiences that are on offer in the Mackay region. Sarina Sugar Shed The Sarina Sugar Shed offers fully interactive guided tours, encouraging a paddock-to-plate experience to be had by their guests. Take a historic journey into the pioneering
Read more
Friday 1 December Friday Night Live Music Every Friday from 5pm Join us on Friday’s from 5pm for live music from our local favourites, good food and great company. | Free entry. Boomerang Hotel Morning Melodies – Christmas with Karen Knowles From 11am Well known for her Carols and Christmas repertoire, Karen performs regularly with her musical director accompanying her on piano. Join Karen for a wonderful selection of her hits, standards and your favourite Christmas songs as her music moves
Read more
Kicking off on 2nd December, the Bob Wood Cultural Hall Park is set to host a community Christmas fair celebration in the leadup to the festive season, alongside a music festival and a special, artist-created light show. The Christmas fair will take place in the park outside the Bob Wood Cultural Hall from 2pm to 5pm, with eventgoers set to be delighted with jumping castles, face painting, balloon twisting, disco and kids karaoke, as well as a visit from Santa. These activities will be coupled
Read more
A whopping 48 Pioneer Swimmers competed at the 50th Great Barrier Reef LC Transition Meet held at the Mackay Aquatic Centre on 18th and 19th November. The team was mighty - being the largest team in presence - pumped for the weekend of racing! The Meet was hosted by the Mackay Swimming Academy and this was their 50th anniversary event. To celebrate such a momentous milestone, the medals were extra special this year with the lanyards featuring the Great Barrier Reef Ocean and sea wildlife. Th
Read more
The Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre (MECC) is excited to host the first Morning Melodies performance in six months, featuring Christmas with Karen Knowles starting at 11am this morning, Friday 1st December. Morning Melodies is known locally as an affordable day of entertainment, with tickets including a small morning tea and the opportunity to share in over twenty lucky door prize giveaways. Proudly sponsored by The Friends of the MECC, their President Kerry Bonaventura said the fina
Read more
The Marian Ladies Bowling Club concluded its year of spirited competition with a flourish, celebrating champions across various categories. With tremendous teamwork, the quartet consisting of Laurel Morrow, Lyn Jackson, Judith Miller, and Doris Fry emerged victorious in the 4's category. Meanwhile, the Triples title was clinched by the formidable team comprising Gwen Harberger, Joan Vickers, and Fay Erickson, demonstrating their stellar coordination and strategic play. The Pairs category witness
Read more
Festival of Small Halls The folk event of summer is arriving in to town, checking into Sarina for one night of mammoth music, that will leave the soul replenished and recharged. The Summer rendition of the Festival of Small Halls is back and featuring headlining acts Assynt and Jackie Marshall, with the evening expected to be music for the soul. Jackie Marshall is a folk singer-songwriter, with her inspirations stemming from 60s and 70s and western folk and country, jazz, and improvisation. Fu
Read more
The Seaforth Markets are a community-based event that occur every Sunday from 8am to 12:30pm, supplying organic and gourmet produce, fresh fruit and vegetables and an array of quality products from local artisans. The Markets are run by the Seaforth Progress Association, with funds also recycling back into the community, by allowing stalls from organisations such as RACQ CQ Rescue, Country Women’s Association, local schools and sporting clubs to participate. The Seaforth Progress Association hav
Read more
The recent Athletics North Queensland Awards saw 16-year-old Toby Rule win the prestigious Junior Athlete of the Year Award for his achievements in middle-distance running. Toby's accomplishments from October 2022 to October 2023 were highlighted during the recognition process. This included accolades from school-related track-and-field and cross country competitions, as well as his contributions to the Queensland Athletics team in national cross country events. Toby secured his first national
Read more
Vintage performances from wily left arm paceman Adam Knezevic and schoolboy prodigy Etienne Pretorius helped Walkerston maintain its winning streak in the Mackay Cricket Association Poole Cup first grade competition last weekend. Knezevic, the Head Coach of Mackay-Whitsunday Representative Cricket, and spinning all rounder Pretorious bagged four wickets each in their team’s seven run victory over the Magpies at the Magpies Sports Ground. It was an impressive haul by the Walkerston trump cards
Read more
Mackay's Mogford Clinches Second In Premier Off-Road Racing Championship In the rugged terrain of Australia's off-road racing circuit, where dust clouds billow and engines roar like the outback's untamed echoes, Mackay's own James Mogford blazed through the wild tracks like a modern-day bushranger. In an adrenaline-fueled adventure across untamed terrains, Mogford finished in second place in his maiden season of the Polaris Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship series. It was an outst
Read more
Seventeen-year-old James Galea has taken home the Athletics North Queensland Junior Official of the Year Award for the third time, with a consistent contribution to officiating in North Queensland events. James is a field specialist concentrating on throws, officiating events including discus, shot put, javelin, hammer throws and weight throws. His accomplishments dating back from October 2022 to October 2023 were highlighted during the award qualification process. Recently, James was promoted t
Read more
The Airlie Beach Bridge congress was held on 25th and 26th November, with seventeen Mackay Contract Bridge players competing in three different grades with much success. A Category was won by Noel Bugeia and Terrence Sheedy, with Frances and Alan Brown finishing third in A Category. B Category was won by Noel Saunders and Mary-Rose Ramsden. Faith Hutchinson and Dorethy Slater came third in the C Category. It was great to see Karen Caldwell and Susan Gibson (first away congress) participating
Read more
A batch of promising cheer dancers from Mackay are bound for Hawaii next May to compete at the Global Cheer and Dance Games. Young performers from the Adrenalin Cheer and Dance school based at North Mackay showed their wares at the recent Cheerbrandz Super Nationals Championships, staged at Brisbane’s Nissan Arena – securing many places and victories across the weekend. It was the final event of the season for the Mackay club, with the Senior Hip Hop ‘Envy’ team receiving the greatest accolade
Read more
Queensland Schoolgirls netball goalkeeper Shaylah Pershouse and Redcliffe Dolphins-bound rugby league forward Sam Anderson are the St Patrick’s College Junior Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year recipients for 2023. The talented duo were officially recognised for their superb achievements this season on the netball court and football field and accepted their awards at the College’s annual Sports Assembly. Defensive dynamo Shaylah capped a stellar season in her chosen sport when she represente
Read more
The Whitsunday region has reached wide-spread acclaim once again with 10 local operators returning home with accolades from the 38th annual Queensland Tourism Awards which were held in Cairns last weekend.A total of seven golds, two silver, five bronze and one highly commended award were won by local businesses and CEO of Tourism Whitsundays, Rick Hamilton said he is thrilled with the result.“The awards our operators received on Friday night further highlights the outstanding contribution The Wh
Read more
Hi Everyone,Has anyone noticed the wave of Covid that is currently causing many of us to drop like flies across the region?It seems every second person I speak with has a recent Covid story!In fact, I have my own to share.
Read more
Giving his time to John was an easy task for Robert Murphy, a local tradesman, when he heard of John’s callout for some help to do some work on his property. Living with MS and with a steep backyard to manage, John was on the hunt for a contractor to make his back garden accessible for him, but instead Rob answered his call and offered to do it for free. “John’s had a life, helping his community and I just wanted to make sure he could enjoy his life,” Rob explained. Once he confirmed what John
Read more
Hundreds of families and students, both past and present, attended a special farewell assembly at Cannonvale State School earlier this week, an opportunity to say goodbye and good luck to the much-loved School Principal, Angie Kelly. For the past 11 years Ms Kelly has been the charismatic leader for the local primary school and is renowned for her lively weekly assemblies that keep both students and parents entertained. She is also widely respected for being a hands-on Principal who is often i
Read more
Proserpine Hospital is set to receive massive upgrades, totalling close to $8 million in building works. The $8 million from the State Government will include a new renal dialysis service and four renal dialysis chairs and a refurbishment of the Acute Primary Care Clinic. The renal dialysis upgrades are part of the government’s $27.7 million commitment to deliver 33 renal dialysis treatment spaces in regional Queensland.
Read more
Eight children, a loving wife, extended family, and countless others across the local sporting community are mourning the loss of a much-loved, dedicated sports dad this week.Matt Costello passed away suddenly when he was visiting family in Mt Isa, leaving his wife and children devastated, a huge gap in their lives that can only be filled in some small way by the wonderful memories that remain.
Read more
You may not have met Jill and Geoff Wilson, but you’ve definitely felt their influence and their dedicated work. For 20 years now, this couple have been logistical powerhouses, assisting Red Frog Schoolies efforts and making sure that young people return home safe and sound every single night of their Schoolies celebrations. However, Geoff is very humble: “It’s not about me, it’s about the amazing young people, the Red Frogs who take the time off work, travel to Airlie Beach, and work frontlin
Read more
And just like that, Schoolies is over for 2023, but event organisers are proud of the success of their third annual week-long celebration. With over 1,400 Year 12 school leavers partying in Airlie Beach last week, Margie Murphy of Airlie Events, who is responsible for organising the Airlie Beach portion of the nation-wide event was pleased with the reception. “The week went very well,” she said. “The students were very well behaved, from what I’ve seen and heard from the Police, Ambulance Serv
Read more
The Bowen Visitor Information Centre claimed the bronze prize in the Visitor Services category at the Queensland Tourism Awards in Cairns last week.With more than 100 Visitor Information Centres across the state, the competition was very high and the team at Bowen were very proud to be named number three in all of Queensland.Manager of Bowen Tourism and Business, Leanne Abernethy said the team always worked incredibly hard to provide the best information services for the thousands of visitors wh
Read more
Not all heroes wear capes, as we think our Disaster Management Coordinator Sandra Black is a legend who has been at the forefront of Council disaster team for the past six years. Known widely as “Blackie”, Sandra has been with Council for almost 25 years, joining the organisation fresh out of university and initially working at the Proserpine Library. In 2014 she completed her Advanced Diploma in Public Safety and has since continued her professional development, completing many of the Queenslan
Read more