Toowoomba Regional Council’s portfolio leader for Tourism and Events Cr Geoff McDonald says the floral parade has come under the spotlight and there has been a suggestion that the parade be put back to 3pm to avoid the heat of the day – which makes perfect sense to me.”

He said a straw poll through the TCOF Facebook page back in late January, asked the community what they thought of changing the parade starting time to 3pm. 70% of respondents were in favour of moving the parade starting time to the 3pm timeslot.

“At that time, we also consulted our key stakeholders – police, parade organisers, sponsors, the SES, Main Roads and coach packaging experts – asking what they thought of a time change. All of them were supportive of a 3pm start.”height=444
Cr McDonald went on to say “Being a family event and involving so many children in the parade, it made good sense to consider postponing the start time to 3pm. There is also a benefit to CBD businesses of having a later start as they can leave their doors open for longer on the morning of the parade.

Cr McDonald said the 2013 parade will start at 3pm and finish in Queens Park at 4.30pm (with the popular parade floral market taking place at 5pm). “It will fit perfectly with the Flower, Food & Wine Festival and Sideshow Alley in Queens Park and we’d encourage parade participants, their families and our many visitors to come join the fun and entertainment of these events,” he said.

“I have no doubt the 64th Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers will be yet another great experience and I hope to be in a position to make some more exciting announcements in a few weeks.”

Stakeholder Engagement & Communication
Toowoomba Regional Council