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People from many parts of the globe have claimed Ipswich as home
and with early immigration, followed cultural organisations and
festivals. The Irish celebrated St Patrick’s Day with parades, sports
and dinners. In 1905, the St George Society held a big parade to
celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. The Scots
formed the Caledonian Society and Highland Games were instigated
in 1878. St David’s society was formed by the Welsh in Ipswich and
they celebrated their rich music and cultural heritage. Church
organisations held fetes, concerts, balls and dances and ran musical
groups and sporting and youth clubs. In the early 1900s, the Carroll
brothers began showing silent films in Ipswich and later went on to
form Birch Carroll & Coyle, a company still well known in the
entertainment industry today.
Picnics have been very popular with Ipswichians and Queens Park
has been a focal point for the community’s festivities over the years.
Today Ipswich boasts a wide range of parks and reserves where
locals and visitors can enjoy the company of family and friends in
beautiful outdoor settings.
The Ipswich Festival focuses the city’s long held passion for the arts
into two jam packed weeks annually. In this sesquicentennial year
the festival included the Jazz, Wine and Blues Festival in Queens
Park, the Festival Parade, a Festival Party in the Top of Town, Mayor’s
Ball, the Arts Awards, Fire on the River, the multicultural Global
Fiesta, Circus comedy gala, Contemporary Country and a whole
range of other theatre and entertainment events for families, youth
and children.
2010 saw the inaugural Celebrate Pasifika event launched in
Goodna. This event includes traditional and contemporary
performances, cultural handicraft workshops, food and
information stalls showcasing Pacific Peoples.
Whether it’s a picnic in one of Ipswich’s many parks and reserves,
street theatre, visit to an art gallery, a parade, sporting event or a trip
to the movies, the Ipswich community continues a long tradition of
enthusiastic appreciation for recreation and entertainment.
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In 1901, Banjo Patterson came to Ipswich to talk about his experiences in
the Boer War. As part of the event a film about Sydney’s Federation
celebrations was shown.
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Edward and Dan Carroll grew up in Redbank Plains. Edward obtained the
Queensland rights to the silent film “The Kelly Gang” in 1906 which
successfully toured the state. He formed “Carroll’s Biograph Pictures” and
then in the early 1920s with two partners formed the well known Birch
Carroll & Coyle theatres.
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Edward Carroll showed Ipswichians their first films out of doors at “The
Olympia Theatre” that was actually Bossie Martoo’s Stadium and Sports
Ground.
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Edward Carroll had a range of outdoor venues where he showed films
both in Brisbane and Ipswich. Interestingly, today Council’s “Movies in the
Park” hark back to those early days of film going in Ipswich.
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The old open air Olympia Theatre was renamed the Tivoli. It burned down
in 1928.
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In 1925, at the age of 24, local Charles Chauvel made a film called
“The Moth of Moonbi” which was to become a film of lasting national
significance.
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The Ipswich Art Gallery is located in the restored old Town Hall and is one
of the most visited regional art galleries in Australia.
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The Ipswich Golf Club was formed in 1897 and established a nine hole
course in what is now known as Limestone Park.
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The Ipswich Bowls Club was formed in 1910 and gained permission to use
Queens Park.
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Willowbank Raceway was officially opened by Deputy Premier Bill Gunn
in September 1985, attracting competitors from throughout the country.
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In 1996 the Ipswich City Council in partnership with the Ipswich Arts
Foundation initiated the Global Arts Link (GAL) project, a new type of
visual arts museum. It was officially opened on 14 May 1999 and is now
known as the Ipswich Art Gallery.
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The River Heart Parklands opened in 2007 with a fireworks celebration.
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In this sesquicentennial year thousands of people lined the streets to take
in the vibrancy and spectacle of the annual Ipswich Festival Parade.
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Between 15,000 and 20,000 people attended the 2010 Fire on the River
fireworks event as part of the Ipswich Festival.
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Providing educational opportunities has been part of the fabric of
Ipswich from its earliest days. Ipswich Grammar School was founded in
1863, St Mary’s in 1864, Ipswich Girls’ Grammar and St Edmund’s College
in 1892. Today the Ipswich region boasts a wide range of quality state
and private schools.
Entertainment and Recreation
triathlons, cycling, vigoro, weightlifting, wrestling and judo are all
sports in which Ipswichians have represented their state or country.
Motorsport in Ipswich grew in popularity after WWII with sprints
held at the former airforce runway at Goolman adjacent to the
Ipswich Peak Crossing road and motorcycle racing at Heit Park near
Amberley. Motocross racing at the Tivoli track is still held today.
The tradition continued when development of the Motorsport
precinct at Willowbank commenced in the early 1980s. It has seen
motorsport grow to be the largest tourist attraction in the region.
The Willowbank Drag Racing Complex commenced operation in
1985 and the annual Winternationals meeting, held traditionally
over the Queens Birthday weekend in June, is the largest drag
racing event held outside the United States. The Queensland
Raceway circuit was officially opened in 1999 and held its first
V8 championships in July that year.
Ipswich’s passion for sport has never waned over its 150 years and
the city and region have provided superior athletes in a wide range
of disciplines who are competitive on the world stage. Ipswich
leads the way into a new era of amazing athletes who can perform
at representative levels across a number of sports. In 2006 the city
celebrated the incredible contributions by Deborah Lovely to sport
and to the community and granted her the key to the City.
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Willowbank Raceway