By TANIA PHILLIPS
Pic 1: Tweed Mayor Barry Longland and the kids from the Cadillac Rockers – from Wollumbin High Jake Maloney, Mitch Vanegdon, Brianna Greasley, Dyllan Foley and Jess Manler.
Pic Gail: Cooly Rocks On Chairwoman Gail O’Neill takes the stage during the launch on Friday night.
Pic Cr: Tweed Mayor Cr Barry Longland and his Southern Gold Coast counterpart Cr Chris Robbins get all shook up after meeting Elvis.
Pic committee: The hard working committee for Cooly Rocks On.
Pic: Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate – helps to officially open this year’s festival with a little help from his friends.
WHAT do you get when you mix over 1200 custom and classic cars and hot rods, more than 50 rock ‘n’ roll bands, a line-up of special guest international artists, a crowd of over 80,000 people and one of the most colourful, vibrant and beautiful beachside destinations in Australia?
You get Cooly Rocks On – a jumping, jiving, revving rollercoaster of music, dancing and fun.
Cooly Rocks On is Australia’s number one ’50s and ’60s inspired nostalgia festival, held each year in the Queensland/NSW border towns of Coolangatta on Queensland’s Gold Coast and Tweed Heads in New South Wales.
Over 11 action-packed days – culminating in this weekend’s street party, the border towns dish up a feast of non-stop rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly, swing, dancing, competitions, music and live performances.
Devotees of ’50s and ’60s music and memorabilia travel from all over the world to attend this annual event.
Throughout the festival, the streets of the border towns are crammed with rare and extraordinary pre-1970, much-loved classic cars. This year, the total value of cars on display is expected to top $30 million.
Nightly car cruises are a festival highlight, so take a table at one of the many street-side restaurants or cafes and watch the very entertaining, and sometimes ‘audibly competitive’, passing parade.
During the Grand Finale weekend this weekend the two main streets are closed to traffic for one massive street party. Outdoor stages, music and dancing are the order of the day and when you can dance no more, take a wander through retro markets and stalls and check out the hundreds of cars.
Six outdoor stages have been erected, along with a massive beachside marquee which has been pumping out entertainment and dancing from 1 June. Almost every pub and club in the border towns will be venues for live music and dancing.
