JourneyOnline
THE COUNTDOWN is on for thousands as Easterfest 2011 draws near.
The Queensland city of Toowoomba started the year by making international news when an ‘inland tsunami’ crashed
through the centre of the city.
However, as Easter approaches, the city is getting ready to once again make international news, but for very different reasons.
Each Easter Toowoomba hosts Easterfest, the largest Christian event and largest drug and alcohol-free festival in Australia.
Easterfest is a festival with a mission to remember and celebrate the true Easter story and tens of thousands of people
from across the nation travel to be part of it.
This year over 200 artists will perform, including Switchfoot, Naturally 7, Darlene Zschech, the Paul Colman Trio and even a reunion of 80s rock band Petra.
The atmosphere is electric as churches of every denomination unite to reflect and celebrate the Easter message.
However, the exciting wild card (and shock) for many Christians is that Easterfest is as mainstream as it is Christian.
It is a rare example of the churches of a city operating in unity outside their own four walls.
Queens Park, the original epicentre of Easterfest, has been brimming full for years, so in recent years the festival has spilled out into the adjacent city centre to engage the entire town with events in cafes, restaurants, shopping centres, theatres, churches and even pubs.
The Gospel message of Easter takes over the whole city.
Local police sing the festival’s praise because Toowoomba now claims the rare honour of dramatically increasing its
population for one weekend yet simultaneously reducing the crime rate.
The Chamber of Commerce is delighted with an economic injection of over 10 million dollars each year.
The Council now recognises the role Easterfest plays in putting the city on the national and international map.
If it is true that you can measure a city’s health by what it celebrates, then the long-term diagnosis for Toowoomba is looking positive.
And in the months and years after the devastating events in January this year, Toowoomba and its surrounds will continue
to need support from the wider community.
Easterfest 2011 will be held from 22-24 April in Toowoomba.
Accommodation is available in local motels or by camping onsite in Queens Park.
Significant group and family discounts are available.
For more information click here
Photo : The 2010 Easterfest Mainstage 2010. Photo byTrent Rouillon
