Australian Festival 2002-2003 History 

The Australian Festival - History in the Making!

In 2002 & 2003 combined, people from all over Tennessee attended the Australian Festival. The Australian Festival had come a long way from its humble beginnings, with weekend attendances of approximately 10,000 patrons in both years. With a variety of family activities, including Animals Down Under, Kids Down Under, Sports Down Under, Australian Exhibitors, Outback Steakhouse Food Court and Aussie Entertainment, there was lots of fun for everyone. 

Children (and adults alike) enjoyed visiting and petting Australian native animals provided by Kentucky Down Under, which included kangaroos, a laughing kookaburra, wallabies, cockatoos, a python and dingo. Animals Down Under also featured a sheep herding demonstration. Kids Down Under featured jumping castle, dunking booth, climbing wall as well as other activities. Australian exhibitors showcased a wide range of Aussie goods and produce. 

Sports Down Under featured sports for which Australia is known, including Cricket, Women's Rugby and Aussie Rules Football. The Australian Festival completed is most significant growth year in 2002, almost doubling in attendance from 2001.

The 2003 Festival maintained that same level of attendance over the two day weekend. In one of the more disorganized events in our history - the festival was primarily organized in 8 weeks with several people heading up the event - then dropping out of the event at a very late stage. Amazingly the club pulled together at the last minute and whipped the festival into shape. A great lesson learnt was that fact that the event had now grown to the point that you could not rely on volunteers purely to operate the event. The 2003 Australian Festival was by all accounts another great event - but it was definitely clear that the Australian Festival format (and location) had also been maximized. To take the festival to the next level - there was going to have be some serious changes.

2002 Australian Festival Committee .

Ruth Freeland - Chairman, Erin Downey - Director, Peter Beare, Shane Clohesy, Richard Butler.

2003 Australian Festival Committee 

Peter Beare - Director, Shane Clohesy, Richard Butler, Jeff Persson

2002 Australian Festival Poster (we graduated from Flyers!)