Community
22 July, 2026
Hunt is on for former festival Queens
The Goulburn Lilac City Festival will celebrate its 75th anniversary this year and the call has gone out for former Queens to join the celebrations.
The Goulburn Lilac City Festival will celebrate its 75th anniversary this year and the call has gone out for former Queens to join the celebrations.
Organisers say the title of festival Queen has always been hotly contested and the crowning of the Queen is considered a festival highlight.
They are hoping as many former Queens as possible will take part in this year’s street parade on the morning of Sunday, October 4.
Any former Queens – or people who know of former Queens – are being encouraged to contact the organising committee via email at goulburnlilaccityfestival@gmail.com
To help track them down there is a full list former Queens from 1952 onwards on the Lilac Festival website at https://goulburnlilaccityfestival.org.au/lilac-time-queens-over-the-years/
Last year the title was changed to include males with Blake Robertson making festival history by becoming the first festival Sovereign.
The title is far from a beauty pageant or personality contest – it is based on the amount of money entrants raise for a charity of their choice.
This year there will be further changes to entry conditions, making it open to people over the age of 16 – as opposed to 18 as it has been in previous years.
The winner will receive a Harvey Norman gift voucher and will play a key role in the ever-popular street parade.
The entry form will be available shortly on the festival website at http://goulburnlilaccityfestival.org.au with the winner to be announced as part of the official festival opening in Belmore Park on Saturday, October 3.
There will also be changes this year in the younger categories with the festival Prince and Princess titles open to young people between the ages 0 and 15 (as opposed to 0 and10).
This year’s festival – running over four days from October 2 to October 5 to coincide with the October long weekend – is shaping up to one of the biggest and best yet.
There will be all the traditional favourites as well some new additions and organisers have been tweaking some of the competitions to get more people involved.
This year’s festival will feature markets, music and carnival rides; photography, garden, window display and colouring competitions as well as the street parade, pet parade and a community brunch.
The full program as well the entry forms for all the competitions are available on the festival website.
The Goulburn Lilac City Festival is one of Australia’s longest running community festivals.
Keep reading The Southern Wire for more information about this year’s festival as the October long week approaches.
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