Despite some trepidation that it was going to be cool and overcast, and numbers depressed due to COVID restrictions, yesterday’s TLCF was again a brilliant day. The Festival seems blessed with year on year hitting a sweet spot in terms of the weather, and despite a cool start to the morning, we had plenty of sunshine to play in and good crowds swing past the marquee to say hi to the Club and find out a little more about what we do.

Taiko opened the festival on the Peace Stage at 10 am with a rousing performance of a number of their pieces. We had great positioning this year with our demonstration area in direct line of sight to the main entrance, and our mat was certainly eye catching with the addition of the printed mon as its centrepiece. Kendo and KJR jujutsu certainly caught some big “oohs” and “ahs” with their spectacular demos, and we had great crowds through the day for all of our demonstrations.

As always, many thanks to all Club members who came out to play at various times through the day. Jono, Kateena for being there at initial bump in at a very chilly 7.40 am; Tracy, Sean, Brady, Daen, Callum, Heather, Grant and Joe for their presence and participation through the festival proper; and of course to the might few — Tracy, Jono, and Joe who made it all the way to the end of the day and the restocking of our gear back in the CBRC after a very long and demanding day. Running the mats back up the stairs certainly emptied that tank somewhat after a day of near non-stop training and public interaction.

And so we look forward to the 16th TLCF next year where we can again spend the day in the sun doing what we love and sharing that with the Toowoomba community. Our next engagement on the calendar is June 20 at the Sunday Queen’s Park markets where Taiko will be pairing up with some of our disciplines to put a display on.