Jake Hewitt – Tree of Knowledge Festival [paid] (28 April)

0:00Rural Queensland today on the Resonate Broadcast Network, Jake Hewitt joins us this morning and this weekend, yeah, it's Mayday long weekend, but the Trianolage Festival takes place always a special time in the central west. Jake Hewitt, good morning and thank you so much for being with us, my friend. Morning, Ben, how are you? Yeah, wonderful mate. We know what the Trianolage is and the history and where it transport and like Labor Day Mayday, it's significant and the Trianolage Festival in Barcauldron is just such an important part of the landscape in this Queensland, in this state of Queensland. How big is it going to be this weekend? Oh, well, we're hoping to be bigger than last year, every year we hope to be bigger, but we'll sort of see what happens, you know, with everything that's going on in the world and why not we could be smaller, but hopefully we're bigger, we've added a few more events. If anyone listen to the other interview I don't on the radio, we've added a few more.

1:01Right, so talk to us through what obviously transpires over the Labor Day long weekend, that's been it, but the festival is very well known. What do we expect, what do we expect for this festival this year? Yeah, well, it's followed the same sort of program as the previous year, you know, you have the Friday night street party, then you have the Saturday races along with the party that follows up to the races, then you go into the footy and the Nepal on the Sunday along with Red Fest in the morning, then you have the senior's footy game at night in our fireworks, and then yeah, so then it goes on to Monday, Mayday Parade, but we've added a few more things like the Friday night, we've got a Stock Week challenge, there's prizes up for grabs, so come along the end for that to put your name down and nominate, and then we've got some activities through the day on the Saturday, we've got the crack up sisters doing a performance

2:04after the goat races and the hobby horse races for the kids, and then we've got a... It's a proper, proper show isn't it, I'm just looking at this, I mean, you know, anywhere where there's a colour run on the Saturday morning, you know, for everybody, and then it's just with races to a town party, to the goat races, like it just goes on and on and on, and there's so much activity there. What makes it so special? I mean, I know it's a lot of work, and you will get a lot of people there, like outside money is so important, and the tourism dollar is so important, but it really makes park order and makes it so special, doesn't it, because of the town and because of the tree and knowledge and just the history around it. Yeah, Ben, really, I just think it's a great community, and like we get so much good local support from everyone, and it's just really good to see so many people from different towns

3:04close by, like come and support our festival, and like, yeah, it is a big part of our history and how Barkey became what it is, and yeah. How many people, what do you think you normally get there? I mean, we've spoken in the past, yeah, you know, like over the course of the weekend, and you're right, you don't know what's going to happen because of, you know, the way the fuel crisis is and cost of living expenses at the moment, you just know that there is obviously people are watching their pennies, but what are you expecting to happen over the course of number wise? Well, I think we're looking at probably like a thousand people over the weekend, like coming and going is a rough big yet. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but yeah, most of the hotels in Tanna booked out for the weekend, which is good to see them getting business. So we're hoping that we can,

4:04you know, still hold our numbers from last year, but obviously we know that that might not be true, but we're still hopeful. Now, mate, I remember last year we were talking about it, and I didn't want to get dramatic about it, but the future of the of the Tree of Knowledge Festival was at risk because of trying to get a new committee form. Now, obviously, you know, communities are busy people. Obviously, it's a huge part of, you know, getting people on board, and you guys were able to put a committee together and obviously get underway. That must have been a relief in a lot of ways for not only the community, but it's all volunteer based, and I'm sure you need more people helping over the course of the weekend. Yeah, Ben, we're always chasing people to help, and we're always encouraging people to jump on committees because it's just a really great way to connect with the community and, you know, just give a little back, and you're like, you're meeting some incredible people like I've met so many people this year doing this committee job that I never thought I would.

5:07Yeah, exactly right, and it's probably a way forward for this town to grow and be stronger. When you talk about, you know, there's a bit of rugby league involved, and my right saying the magpies take on Barca Houghton, that's as big a rivalry as ever, and that takes place over the course of the weekend as well. Yes, I do believe that is right, Ben, yeah, that one will take over on the weekend, yeah. And mate, obviously, by the end of it after the parade, it comes to an end, but there'll be some sore heads by the end of it on Monday. I think you can only imagine Ben. It doesn't happen without sponsorship these kind of events, and the Tree of Knowledge Festival is a massive part of that, and obviously the Council's behind it, but how big and how important has it been about the sponsors that have got him behind us? Look, it's been very important to us,

6:07like, and we understand, like, the whole world situation, like, yeah, everyone's watching the pennies, but we're very grateful for every sponsor that we're getting. We try to utilise that money that we're getting, bring it to the show and make it more bigger and better from the following year, and we're just really thankful for our local businesses supporting us, and some people from out of town even supporting us as well. Yeah, well, that's the big thing. Anybody over the course of the weekend who needs to have some time, I think, needs to get to Barca Houghton, the Tree of Knowledge Festival, an annual event. It's the Mayday Long Weekend, kicks off on Friday. There'll be sore heads after the street parade on Monday, but through the course of it, there is a lot of entertainment. There's a lot of activity. It is a community event that is unrivaled, and we know where and why the Tree of Knowledge is so important to the fabric of this great state, it's where the shear strike was, it's where the parties were formed, the Labor Party

7:10was formed. They might not look the same in their essence now, but I can tell you what, this is an important fabric of the DNA of Queensland. Jake Hewitt, best of luck for it. Hope it goes well. Thanks for giving me some time this morning on Rural Queensland today, and we're sure it's going to go well. Appreciate your time. Thank you, Ben. You have a good week. Good on you. That kicks off on Friday, the Tree of Knowledge Festival, and you can go on Facebook and have a look of the whole calendar and all the events are there, everything there for you to plan out. Big weekend in Barcauldon. This is Rural Queensland today.