Woohaha

Taken from Bush ball forced to get a new look



Bush ball forced to get a new look


Wednesday Jan 2 12:00 AEDT

By Josephine Asher

ninemsn

The bachelor-and-spinster ball is shedding its image as a feral bush bash.
Rockhampton's annual event has matured to attract an audience that expects more than just booze and utes doing doughnuts in the paddock.
The revamped ball, now called the Rocky New Year's Festival, has drawn the biggest crowd in the last 20 years — attracting 4000 revellers from rural and urban Australia, as well as from overseas, to a four-day party in Queensland's far north.
The festival now includes a day at the horse races, a cruise, picnic on Great Keppel Island and a "bow tie and bling ball" on New Year's Eve.
A rodeo and ute show still links the festival to its country roots, but event organiser Gary Stickley insists this is a more stylish affair than B&S balls of yore.
He said his festival committee found that the rough reputation associated with previous balls began driving people away.
"They simply became feral," he said.
"The ripped shirts, coloured dye and rough tackling all came in about 10 years ago and (the B&S balls) slowly deteriorated.
"The girls didn't want to go as they didn't want to get their dress ruined, and the boys got more feral as girls stopped going."
"Then the (liquor licensing and public liability) laws came in and that finished them off basically."
Mr Stickley said this year's committee conducted surveys to find out ways to style up the event, and the result is various music stages, big screens and a formal dress code.
"We're not using the term 'B&S' at this stage but we would love to use that again in the future," he said.
Although the festival includes fun games that pair men and women, he said most ball-goers did not see the festival as a singles event.
Mick Plumley, from the UK, said: "It doesn’t matter if you're with your life-long partner or on your own. Everyone gels".
"You meet people on the first day and because it's not just a one night thing, you meet some really good people over three or four days," he said.
Brooke Cumming, 19, from Rockhampton, said the festival's tradition has undergone a change.
"I honestly think in today's society you need this, where everyone can get together and have a good time over a few drinks," she said.
"It's not about bachelors and spinsters anymore. We're having a ball, literally."
Eleanor Donovan, from Sydney, said she has been coming to the Rocky festival for six years with school friends and uni friends.
"We make it a tradition to come here every year and get together," she said.
"I'm sure there's a lot of people who do come to pick up and make that the aim of the night," she said.
"Fashions change and what people drink changes but the idea of the event hasn't changed that much."
Brett Blaquibre, 18, who flew from Canada especially to go to "Sydney, The Great Barrier Reef and Rocky festival", agreed.
"There's quite a few couples here, but it's definitely a good place to pick up some chicks," he said.
But he wasn't convinced the "styling up" of the event would prevent the rowdiness B&S balls are famed for.
"It's going to get pretty feral later I think," he said.

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