By TANIA PHILLIPS
“ECSTATIC” that was the way Cooly Rocks On chairperson Gail O’Neill described the organising committee’s reaction to this year’s festival.
Despite intermittent rain, organisers believe 80-100,000 people attended the 10-day nostalgia festival across Coolangatta and Tweed Heads.
“We are quite ecstatic even though there was some wet weather particularly on the Saturday afternoon, but then we had a great Sunday.
“We have had some great feedback already on facebook and just talking to people on the ground. People are saying it was better than last year.”
She said new innovations including the Miss Cooly Rocks On Vintage Glamour Pagent and the new surf precinct at Kirra had proven amazingly popular.
Gail said there were some hiccups that would be discussed down the track at debriefing meetings.
She admitted one of those “hiccups” was an altercation involving “five bikie gang members “ which saw a 61-year-old man punched for allegedly attempting to film the incident and the side mirror of a vintage car damaged.
She said the man was taken to hospital for treatment and later allowed to leave, and she believed he had returned straight to the festival.
Gail said she believed that the event on the Saturday evening had been “blown out of proportion” by media.
However, she said organisers would still be talking to police to ensure nothing like this happened again at the highly successful family festival. Cooly Rocks On CEO Bob Newman agreed that this year’s Cooly Rocks had been a major success, saying accommodation in the region was at capacity, with many visitors saying it was the first time they had come to the border towns for the annual festival.
“We couldn’t be happier with the outcome this year, and overall, the weather played in our favour for the first time in three years,” he said.
“We had a little rain on Saturday afternoon, but that failed to dampen the spirits of the fans, many of whom had travelled from around Australia and overseas to experience Cooly Rocks On,” Bob said.
“I spoke to lots of people who said it was their first visit to Cooly Rocks On and it wouldn’t be their last. They had already booked accommodation for 2014 and were planning on bringing a convoy of friends next year.
“They were blown away by the size of the festival and the extent of the car display. Some said they thought there would be a few cars to see, but they never expected to see over 1300,” he said.
“The cars are a major drawcard of the festival and having so many in one place at one time will always be one of the most unique aspects of Cooly Rocks On.”
Meanwhile, the highly colourful parade on Saturday morning proved a major drawcard again, with rain holding off despite overcast conditions and allowing huge crowds to line the sides of the streets.
Murwillumbah teen, Jake Maloney, bass player with Wollumbin High band the Cadillac Rockers, was awarded King of the Parade.
The King and Queen of the Parade Awards are made to the personalities that are the ‘stands outs’ as the parade makes it way through the streets of Coolangatta.
Judges said Jake Maloney had become the unofficial ‘junior media ambassador’ for Cooly Rocks On, participating in many radio interviews and press stories in the lead-up to the festival.
His role in promoting Cooly Rocks On to a younger demographic has been phenomenal, and during the parade he was one of the most enthusiastic performers, never missing a beat from Kirra to Tweed Heads.
King Elvis Impersonator Jacqueline Feilich was Queen of the Parade. Jacqueline, from Sydney, was a crowd favourite as she travelled in a 1968 Ford Fairlane owned by John Anderson, alongside male Elvis impersonators Mark Andrew and Damien Mullen.
Most Creative Display award was Gold Coast Rockers; Best Prime Mover was won by Rock’n’Roll Geoff and his Movers and Groovers; Best All Rounder was won by Beach House Coolangatta.
