17 February 2012

Join fire twirling workshops, watch a blacksmith in action, or sit back and listen to the live entertainment – it’s all on tap at the first Lamplight Bazaar of the year in Maryborough’s historical Wharf Street on, Saturday, February 25.

The Lamplight Bazaar is the first in a series of events that piggy back on the Poppins mania generated by the smash hit Poppins musical now showing in Brisbane.

Fraser Coast Regional Council secured $20,000 in Events Queensland funding to market Maryborough’s heritage offerings and its unique connection with Mary Poppins into south-east Queensland.
  
As part of the campaign, an open invitation has issued to residents in Brisbane to spend a “Weekend with Mary” in the birthplace of the creator of the famous nanny.

A “Weekend with Mary” will be held on the last full weekend of the month, and includes a new Lamplight Bazaar in the historic Portside Precinct on the Saturday evening as well as a host of quirky tours and family friendly activities.
 
The first Weekend with Mary will be held on February 25 and 26.

On Saturday night you will be able to relive the lively early days of Maryborough at the Lamplight Bazaar in the Portside heritage precinct from 5pm to 9pm.

Costumed characters, live music and entertainment, homemade food and craft and quirky torchlight tours will help turn back the clock 160 years to when Maryborough was one of Australia’s largest and busiest ports.

Guides will take people on a Nightwatchman’s tour of Portside, spinning yarns about sailors, smugglers, brothels and opium dens. 

Exhibits will come alive on a “Night at the Museum” tour of the Maryborough Military and Colonial Museum, and Gatakers ArtSpace will host a series of musical and artistic performances and exhibitions.

As well a host of stalls offering handmade and homemade items will dot the Wharf Street precinct .

On Sunday, February 26, the fun will continue with steam trains, traditional children’s games and amusements, brass bands in Queens Park while river cruises will be operating on the Mary.

There is no cost to have fun at the Lamplight Bazaar while the Nightwatchman’s Tour will cost $7.50 a person.

The Mary Poppins Festival and Weekend with Mary event is benefiting from funding received under the Events Queensland Regional Development Program (EQRDP).

The EQRDP is an investment program designed to extend the flow of economic and social benefits of events to regional Queensland.

The latest round of funding brings the total number of events supported under the Events Queensland Regional Development Program to 856 and a total investment of $18.3 million since it began in 2001.