The Stronger Together Community Choir at the Cooktown Discovery Festival. The group formed after Cyclone Jasper rocked the community, and members have loved singing together. Photo: Luke Mortimer/Cape York Weekly.
Spirits were soaring, streets were bustling and venues were packed at the 47th annual Cooktown Discovery Festival.
The much-loved Cape York event drew a crowd of about a couple of thousand to the hub of the Cook Shire from Friday to Sunday.
Businesses such as the Shipwreck Cafe were hectic, with available seats often few and far between. A small selection of busy market stalls pumped out food and drinks at a rapid rate, while watering holes such as the Sovereign Hotel heaved with patrons quenching their thirst.
Cook locals were out in force and many attendees the Cape York Weekly crossed paths with were long-time residents, keen to catch up with familiar faces.
But some visitors stopped off to soak in the colourful atmosphere, including those tackling bucket-list trips to the tip of the peninsula.
Dee and Art Dredge drove up from Victoria and decided to stay on the Cape a little longer for the festival.
“We were only just here for the tip and then realised the festival was on, so we just extended it a couple of days,” Mr Dredge said.
“We’ve just been towing a caravan, doing about four or five hours on the road a day, seeing the sights along the way.”
The pair described the Cape as “beautiful” and Ms Dredge said the peninsula was “absolutely a bucket-list trip”, particularly for her husband.
They enjoyed the Friday morning reconciliation re-enactment.
As every year, the 67th annual re-enactment of Captain Cook’s landing and first contact with the Guugu Yimithirr Bamangay people at Endeavour River in 1770 was a highlight. That is saying something, considering the festival’s jam-packed and diverse program.
Cooktown Re-enactment Association poured their hearts into the Sunday morning performance – and even a comical accidental gatecrashing by a bloke in a tinny as muskets were raised over the river did not derail proceedings.
Other historical aspects of the festival were also popular and included the aforementioned reconciliation re-enactment and the gold delivery at the old bank, with costumed performers drawing rounds of applause for their concerted efforts.
Mad about the muster
Meanwhile, the Cape York Automotive Muster was a key part of the vibrant street parade, and a force unto itself throughout the festival.
Car enthusiasts were spoiled, with rides ranging from pristine classics to eye-catching beaters and roaring four-wheel drive rigs occupying centre stage along the main street. Even those without the faintest interest in cars could not help but stop and stare.
The lights and sounds show on Friday night saw flames shooting from bonnets, engines revving and light bars blasting colours throughout one of Queensland’s oldest towns.
Challenger to 2025’s show-stealing Frankenstein bush-basher Toyota Yaris was by some accounts the garish pink “Barbie” Hyundai Excel on display this year, which included a doll plastered unceremoniously to the bonnet.
The ‘Barbie’ Hyundai Excel in the street parade at the Discovery Festival. Photo: Luke Mortimer/Cape York Weekly.
Muster organiser Lauren Bowyer and her small team spent months preparing and she was thrilled to see festival attendees enjoying the show.
“It is hugely rewarding to see it all come together. Every year I go ‘I’m not doing that again’, but every year – because I’m passionate about cars, I love cars, and I love the community – I do it again,” she said.
“And I love the fact that I’m able to give back to the Cancer Council after my issues with cancer – I’m a three-time cancer survivor.”
Ms Bowyer said the muster might need more space at the festival in future, considering its growing popularity.
“It is a huge part of the festival and it’s getting bigger and bigger,” she said.
Local Justin Webster was showcasing two vastly different beasts, both with their own appeal. One was a classic Holden while the other was a monstrously capable mishmash of parts from various cars, which took a couple of years to build.
“It was mainly built just to teach our son how to weld. He was about eight years old,” he said.
The other vehicle, Mr Webster’s ‘Blue Meanie’ Holden, is a “dying breed”, with the iconic Aussie company long dead. He is constantly asked to sell the piece of motoring history.
“But it’s too much fun. I couldn’t,” he said.
Justin Webster showcased two cars in the Cape York Automotive Muster – a classic Holden ‘Blue Meanie’ and a wild offroading rig, which was used to teach his son to weld. Photo: Luke Mortimer/Cape York Weekly.
Tummies tested
Outside the West Coast Hotel on Saturday afternoon, the Unfenced Asylum Challenge was as unhinged and entertaining as ever, but perhaps a little smaller this year, with callouts for participants coming at the last minute.
Nevertheless, those involved got stuck in with gusto – chugging drinks, smashing pies of questionable quality and switching between grasping hobbyhorses and large stones as they dashed down the road, trying to hold it together, leaving many watching on in stitches.
Grace Dennis bravely stepped up to take on the Unfenced Asylum Challenge at the last minute, and managed to keep it together during the mayhem. Photo: Luke Mortimer/Cape York Weekly.
Grace Dennis, a relatively recent arrival in Cooktown, was roped into the challenge with little notice, but proved an impressive contestant (with an iron stomach).
“They’re like, they need a team. I got asked. The girls pushed me,” she laughed.
“You know, just your everyday Saturday. Cooktown’s like this. Standard Saturday.”
Ms Dennis sang the shire’s praises and said she had no trouble making friends in the tightknit community.
“I love Cooktown,” she said.
“The festival has been great. We had scones at the [CWA] Tea House this morning and then went to the market, and then went to the RSL for the wine tasting.”
Family-focused
Friendly police officers milling about at the festival seemed to have relatively little to do but keep an eye on things. They even got a brief moment or two to eyeball key sights alongside other spectators, such as the frantic spaghetti and banana eating competitions.
Results are yet to be confirmed for contests – and some people failed to register amid the excitement. But there was no lack of enthusiasm as kids and adults alike stuffed as many bananas into their gobs as they could and attempted to eat spaghetti hands-free.
With the weather by and large fine and sunny during the lighthearted 19- 21 June gathering, firefighters were using truck hoses to cool down the kids, while bubbles filled the street.
Turn it up
Live music acts from the shire and further afield kept the crowd entertained throughout, including Djawarray, Burger Joint and headliners Kingswood, as well as buskers.
The United Tableland Pipe Band impressed, while the Stronger Together Community Choir was a crowd-pleasing standout for its emotive performance from novice singers.
The group came together after Cyclone Jasper, with some enduring traumatic events, and members have found solace and joy in singing together.
Fireworks – always a crowd favourite – lit up the Endeavour River, providing a once-a-year town spectacle before Kingswood rocked the main stage on Saturday night.
All smiles
Cook Shire Council Mayor Robyn Holmes and CEO Brian Joiner were out and about enjoying the festival.
The council hosts the long-running event, one of the Cape’s biggest, with the assistance of a wide range of local organisations and supporters.
“It’s an amazing weekend. Lots of people out and about today. Beautiful weather as well,” Mr Joiner said on Saturday.
The mayor said the turnout was better than expected: “We weren’t really sure what was going to happen this year.”
“There were a lot of people here last night [Friday] too. It was really a surprise actually. I think it was a bit more than last year,” Ms Holmes said.
Mr Joiner said “the tourism season seems like it’s going to be a little bit down on previous years”, but he was still expecting “good numbers
over the weekend”.
The mayor was asked if she was proud to see some of the best parts of the shire reflected in the festival.
“100 per cent. I mean, we all live here for a reason,” Ms Holmes said, adding there were “too many to name” when it came to those who helped the event come to fruition each year.
