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The first Carnival of Flowers choir is set to shake things up

Led by well–known Toowoomba musician Ruby Slipperz, an 800–strong Carnival Choir will perform for the first time at the Heritage Bank Festival of Food and Wine.

The inaugural choir will perform two almighty rock anthems in Queens Park on Sunday, September 22, at 5pm (following the Brisbane–based brass–fuelled funk band, Cheap Fakes).

The choir was created to mark the 70th anniversary of the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers, with a call to singers going out in July, 70 days before the start of Carnival.

The choir will open the stage for the legendary John Farnham himself, expected to perform in front of a capacity crowd.

“Imagine standing shoulder to shoulder and in front of thousands at the Heritage Bank Festival of Food

and Wine, singing in unison, warming up the crowd before John Farnham walks on stage,” Toowoomba Region counsellor Geoff McDonald said, adding that this will be an enormously special moment in time.

The choir will have one practice session on Wednesday, September 18, before taking to the stage during the Carnival of Flowers weekend.

The Carnival Choir is just one highlight on a record program of events this year, with more than 1100 hectares of public parks and private gardens on display and more than 180,000 bulbs and seedlings in full bloom from Friday to Sunday, September 20 to 29 — not to mention the famous Grand Central Floral Parade on Saturday, September 21. For more information, call 131 872. Tickets to Carnival events are available online at www.tcof.com.au

IT’S THE 70TH TOOWOOMBA CARNIVAL OF FLOWERS