A whirlwind of culture, sport and economic growth
Townsville’s events season is kicking off with the first of a series of high-profile sporting events and cultural experiences taking over the city this year.
The city will play host to the inaugural North Queensland Toyota Cowboys v Redcliffe Dolphins NRL game, an exhibition by Australia’s foremost woodfired potter Len Cook and some of the country’s best stand-up comedians for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow – all in April.
These events are just the start of a whirlwind series of experiences headed to Townsville this events season, cementing Townsville’s reputation as the arts, culture and events capital of Northern Australia.
Mayor Jenny Hill says Townsville City Council has invested heavily into arts, culture and events in its 2022/23 budget, providing $45.6 million towards bringing events, sports and culture to the city.
“This $45.6 million investment reflects Council’s role as a promoter, funder and facilitator of arts and culture across the city,” Cr Hill says.
“We have attracted national and international-calibre brands like Aston Villa Football Club, Queensland Ballet and the Supercars Championship to Townsville, giving us a platform to showcase our beautiful city to new national and international audiences.
“In February the Queensland Reds chose Townsville to kick off the first game of their Super Rugby Pacific campaign and will play another game at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in May.
“We are committed to fully leveraging on the opportunities that hosting these world-class events provides to the city.
“Council’s vision is to grow Townsville, and to do that we must put our best foot forward so we can compete with other cities across Australia and the world.”
Cr Hill says events held at Queensland Country Bank Stadium alone generated close to $25 million to Townsville’s economy in 2022.
“Our friends at Townsville Enterprise have crunched the numbers on the economic impact of attracting world-class sporting and cultural events to Townsville, and the figures really do speak for themselves,” Cr Hill says.
“The effort that is put into bringing events like Super Rugby to Queensland Country Bank Stadium is well worth it, with visitors outside the region attending events at the stadium contributing about $24.9 million to the local economy last year, with more than 250,000 locals and visitors attending events at the stadium during that time.
“These figures go to show just how essential Townsville’s role as the arts, events and sports capital of Northern Australia is in boosting our economy and keeping our locals in sustainable jobs.”
Townsville will be host to a series of major events this events season, including the North Australian Festival of Arts and its music festival Tropic Sounds, the Townsville 500, Ephemera, and more.
Cr Hill says these major events not only provide an economic boon to the community, but they also provide important activation of community spaces across Townsville.
“Whether we’re designing an event ourselves or working with organisers to bring major events to Townsville, it’s always essential that we look at how we can activate our city centre and our suburbs,” Cr Hill says.
“The importance of visitors spending at local businesses cannot be overstated, which is why Council is continuously working with business owners to ensure events are held in spaces that support activation.
“This helps to support and boost the income for businesses like our restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues and retailers.”
“Council is focused on growing Townsville through world-leading placemaking that provides a national and international platform to the city, and we’re doing that through the design of our events and through working with local businesses to ensure each location is brought to life with an array of food, tourism and entertainment options.”
To see events coming up across Townsville, visit Council’s What’s On Townsville website.
Main image: Stage Door Theatre Restaurant presents Moulin Rouge, March to June 2023.
Image credits: All images supplied by Townsville City Council.
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