After a successful hurrah in 2023, the second Bloomfield Bazaar will celebrate the community’s bounce back from Tropical Cyclone Jasper. Photo: Facebook.
A Cape York community is preparing to celebrate the resilience of its residents with a special theme for its annual bazaar after the Tropical Cyclone Jasper flood event of December 2023.
The second Bloomfield Bazaar, themed Bounce Back, will bring together the beloved agricultural show, market stalls, live entertainment, art, and activities for the whole family to enjoy this Saturday.
Bloomfield River District Residents Association secretary Robyn Guedes said after seven months, residents were still doing it tough.
“We suffered a lot with the floods here in Bloomfield; we were really at the epicentre of that deluge we had back in December,” she said.
“A lot of people lost their houses and everything in it, and people are still cleaning mud out of their homes.
“We even had one person who lost their life, unfortunately.”
The one silver lining in the disaster was the generosity and willingness of the community to get through the hardships together.
“I do think this event has actually pulled our community together,” Ms Guedes said.
“I feel as though we’ve all had a common experience, and albeit a bad one, it’s made us all pull together and help each other out.
“It’s also had a bit of a positive effect, and that’s what we’re celebrating.”
Ms Guedes said there would also be a raffle at the bazaar to fundraise for a kitchen facility at the local tin shed-turned-community hub.
“We’ve never had a need for a hub, we’ve always sort of struggled through a cyclone, but this one was very different, and the tin shed became a hub,” she said.
“That tin shed was a centre for donations of food and clothing, there was a washing machine and dryer there for people, and next door was the library with the social workers and the clinic, but there was no kitchen.
“In the future, they’ll be a place where families that are homeless or workers that are stranded can go to and cook meals for themselves.”
The Bloomfield Bounce Back Bazaar will be held on 3 August from 1:30pm at the Bloomfield Hall.
