Chinchilla Watermelon Festival

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Chinchilla Melon Festival

As Chinchilla produces 25% of Australia's melons (including watermelon, rockmelon and honeydew), the first Chinchilla Melon Festival [1] was held in 1994 by local producers and businessmen, to lift the town's spirits after the severe drought experienced in the early 1990s. Estimated numbers at the first Festival were approximately 2,500 which grew to an estimate that there were 10,000 visitors on the main day of the 2011 festival.
In 2009, the Melon Festival won the Queensland Regional Achievement and Community Award for Tourism Event.
The Festival features interactive and unique events, such as Melon Skiing, Melon Bungee, Melon Bullseye, Melon Ironman, Melon Chariot, a pip spitting competition, and melon eating races. A special event held in 2009 saw John Allwood secure the Guinness World Record of Melon Head Smashing - cracking open as many watermelons as possible using only the head. Currently his record is 47 melons in a minute.










Arts and entertainment

View from the railway overpass
Chinchilla has a Cultural Centre, which includes a 700-seat auditorium, cinema and function room, outdoor patio, theatrette, plus bar and kitchen facilities. Also included in the complex are the White Gums Art Gallery and the Library.
The Cultural Centre also houses a cinema showing recently released movies.
Chinchilla White Gums Art Gallery houses a new display every month.
The Western Downs Regional Council operates a public library in Chinchilla at 80-86 Heeney Street.

Tourism and recreation

Chinchilla is one of the towns located on the Warrego Highway, which is a main highway leading out west to Charleville, and a popular tourist route. The mainstays of Chinchilla's tourism industry are the Historical Museum, fishing and fossicking for petrified wood. 'Chinchilla Red' petrified wood is unique to the area, and known for its colour and quality. The Chinchilla White Gum (Eucalyptus argophloia) is also unique to the area, and can be seen on some of the tourist drives which are marked around the region.
An accredited Visitor Information Center is located on the Highway.

Sport

Chinchilla has a range of sports facilities and a variety of sports clubs. Chinchilla Aquatic Centre houses an indoor 25m heated pool, an outdoor 50m pool and a gymnasium. The Chinchilla Family Sports Centre provides facilities for many sports and clubs. There are also clubs and facilities for touch football, rugby league, cricket, tennis, squash, motocross, gymnastics, indoor netball, taekwondo, football and lawn bowls. A fishing club, Pony Club, and shooting range also operate in the area. In addition, there are Polocrosse grounds, a race track, and 9 hole golf course. A Multipurpose Sports Centre Stadium is currently being developed.
The Chinchilla rugby league team's John Gleeson went on to captain Queensland and play for the Australia national rugby league team in the 1960s.

Media

Rebel FM 97.1 (formerly Sun FM) was Chinchilla's first commercial FM radio station. Rebel FM has a new rock & classic rock music format. Rebel FM's sister station, The Breeze broadcasts on 95.5 FM with an easy adult contemporary & classic hits format. Both stations are part of the Gold Coast-based Rebel Media Group which operates a radio network that reaches the Gold Coast and South Brisbane to many centres throughout regional and outback Queensland.
Chinchilla News and Murilla Advertiser is the local newspaper, published every Thursday.

Health

Chinchilla has its own hospital, with an emergency ward, maternity ward and operating theatre. It can also care for long stay patients, and has other services such as social work, child health, physiotherapy, dietician, speech therapy, occupational therapy, mental health, community health services, a women's clinic and an x-ray facility.
In town, there is also a private dental practice, along with the public dental hospital. Five general practitioners operate in the area, along with an occupational therapist, optometrist, podiatrist, physiotherapists and chiropractors.

Transport

Chinchilla is connected to Brisbane, Toowoomba and Roma by the Warrego Highway. Greyhound Australia operates bus services daily between Brisbane and Miles via Chinchilla. Bus Queensland operates 2-3 daily bus services between Brisbane and Mount Isa via Longreach and Charleville, and three buses a week between Toowoomba and Rockhampton, along the Dawson Highway. Murrays Coaches also operates a daily service to and from Brisbane. The Westlander train also comes through Chinchilla twice a week, on its way between Brisbane and Charleville. As it is a small town, there is no public transport (besides a taxi), although many coal and gas companies run contracted buses out to their sites.

Notable locals

References

  1. ^ Jump up to:a b c Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Chinchilla (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 29 January 2018. Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ Jump up to:a b "Chinchilla - town in Western Downs Region (entry 7133)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  3. ^ "Chinchilla - locality in Western Downs Region (entry 47680)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  4. ^ "Chinchilla". Queensland places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland. 2015. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  5. ^ John McCarthy (5 February 2010). "Gloom mining towns are boom towns thanks to housing frenzy". The Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
  6. ^ "Chinchilla Melon Festival display by the Chinchilla Historical Museum: Festival History". Queensland Museum. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  7. ^ "Home". www.melonfest.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  8. ^ "Chinchilla Melon Festival digital story". State Library of Queensland. 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  9. ^ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Archived from the original on 15 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  10. ^ "Chinchilla War Memorial". Monument Australia. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  11. ^ "Queensland Public Libraries Statistical Bulletin 2016-2017" (PDF). Public Libraries Connect. November 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Soldier Statue, Chinchilla (entry 601269)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  13. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f "SC6.5 Planning scheme policy 4 - Local heritage places" (PDF). Western Downs Regional Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  14. ^ Jump up to:a b c d "Opening and closing dates of schools in Queensland". Education Queensland. 16 August 2013. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 3 February2018.
  15. ^ Thomson, P; Chinchilla State School (1983), On a dry sandy ridge : a history of Chinchilla State School and district schools, s.n, retrieved 3 February 2018
  16. ^ "School Profile". My School. 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  17. ^

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