The inaugural Bribie Island Nature Festival

By Alistair Gray

Wow! What a fantastic weekend of events at the first Bribie Island Nature Festival, celebrating art, culture, science and nature. Hearty congratulations must go to the nature festival team for bringing such a fabulous event to Bribie. It will become one of those significant headline events on the Island in the years ahead, if not for Moreton Bay City.

It was a great way to unlock many of the hidden Bribie treasures and showcase many of our local artists, with 14 art studios opening especially for the occasion. And of course, Bribie Island Community Arts Centre - the hub for community art - held an exhibition displaying the incredible works of the Bribie and Districts Woodcrafters. The Arts Centre also hosted the Pumicestone Piano, where community members performed micro recitals much to the enjoyment of the patrons of Café 191.

With a significant emphasis on the environment, there were events like drawing the outdoors using resources from the bush, exploring the Wallum Heath, creating poetry with themes of ageing, nature and climate change and a Yarun cultural tour to explore the rich Aboriginal history of the area. Other activities included discovering the importance of bees and butterflies in pollination, cruises on the Pumicestone Passage, exploring the night sky, bird observation basics and understanding the migratory birds of Moreton Bay.

Even our gardeners were catered for, with lessons in how to create a biodiverse garden. The three-day festival concluded with an afternoon of jazz, blues and reggae performed by an 18-piece JMI Jazz Orchestra, followed by Moving Parts, a developing local Bribie band. Watch out for next year; it will surely be even bigger and better.