Cooktown Discovery Festival
The Cooktown Discovery Festival is an annual event held in Cooktown, Far North Queensland, to celebrate the landing of Lt. James Cook at the Endeavour River in 1770 and his meeting with the local Guugu Yimithirr and Kuku Yalanji people. For 50 years, the people of Cooktown have come together in June to celebrate this historic event by staging a fully costumed re-enactment of Cooks landing and his time spent in this tropical paradise with the local Bama (aboriginal people).
| What | Cooktown |
|---|---|
| When |
Jun 09, 2010
to
Jun 14, 2010
|
| Contact Name | Vanessa Gillen |
| Contact Email | info@naturespowerhouse.com.au |
| Contact Phone | 1800 174 895 |
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See photos of the 2010 Cooktown Discovery Festival
Queens Birthday long-weekend
The festival will feature a multitude of events including the Re-enactment performance with live musket firing, a Grand Parade, a variety of musical entertainment, an 18th Century garden party, a traditional corroboree, market stalls, kids activities, Banks Florilegium exhibition, a free talk with Willie Gordon (Guurrbi Tours) in the park, fireworks as well as arts and crafts workshops and stalls and bush tucker supplied by the local Bama community.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEKEND
Fully costumed Re-enactment performance
Traditional Corroboree telling of Cooks arrival (premiere performance)
Fancy Dress Grand Parade
18th Century Garden Party and classical concert at sunset
Market stalls and fresh local food and produce
Kids activities including old fashioned games, indigenous games, a petting zoo and reptile displays
Local indigenous markets and arts/crafts displays incl didgeridoo making, spear throwing, basket weaving
Bush Tucker tours
Video clip of the re-enactment
Bush tucker feasts cooked in a Gurrma (fire pit)
'A Campfire Yarn' with Willie Gordon and friends
Exhibition of Joseph Banks Florilegium prints in conjunction with Vera Scarth Johnson paintings and examples of the actual plants
Botanic Garden tours featuring the plants of Sir Joseph Banks
Cemetery tours
Lions Club Billy Cart Derby
Fireworks over the Endeavour River
Local music performance by local Aboriginal band Black Image
Themed dinners and entertainment at local venues
Come and experience first hand Cooktown’s unique historical significance showcasing 18th Century European and indigenous cultures…. as never seen before.
