It’s festival time again in Darwin! Back a few decades, it used to be known as the Bougainvillea Festival which featured a colourful grand parade through the centre of Darwin. After the horrors of Cyclone Tracy, the Northern Territory Director of Health Dr Charles Gurd suggested the town needed some sort of celebration that reflected the community s optimism and their determination to rebuild. The festival was given a new floral theme and kicked off again in 1979. Here, a group of young gymnastics march past the Woolworths building on Smith Street as part of the 1986 parade. Over the years the festival grew and changed into what we now know as Darwin Festival.
Published: 7 August 2016