Chamber Chats May

We thank the First Nations people for their presence and cultural engagement, for maintaining custodianship of the land that we are now able to call our home. We are committed to acknowledging your contribution to the quality of life that we all now enjoy and continue work towards fairness and respect in all aspects of our co-existence moving forward.

Congratulations go out to all members of the Nimbin community as well as those in the wider community who hold a special place in their hearts for Nimbin. An amazing effort was made by all in highlighting what our community has to offer the world.

The Aquarian elders were honoured for the influence that they have had in shaping the Rainbow Region introducing the values that most of us now hold dear to our hearts.

Supporters of the festival were treated to a wide array of engaging activities which included culture, health and well-being, spiritual practices, environmental issues, community, art music, fashion, and music much of which has been captured on film.

The youth were engaged with art, storytelling, entertainment, workshops, skatepark action and music, and by all accounts had a wonderful time much to the delight of parents.

10 days of programming a wide range of events was quite a challenge, but we succeeded in presenting a program of high-quality content in all genres.

Special thanks go out to Jeni Kendall, Michael Balderstone, Jenny Cornish, Nic Lindner, Benny Zable, Caroline Todd, Greg Bork, Dex Tallo, Annie McGovern, Pat Miller, Binnah Pownall, Michael Fairley, Johnny Allen, Graham Dunstan, Jagad Samuel, to name but a few, who spent many hours leading up to, during, and after the event, ensuring all contingencies were covered, making sure we had a program that was diverse interesting and cost effective.

To those of you who are not mentioned but played a part in ensuring Aquarius 50 became a reality - thank you so much on behalf of the community of Nimbin. The village is still resonating with the energy that accompanied the festival activities and will do so for time to come.

Thank you to the businesses and individuals that contributed to the costs of running the festival - we could not have done it without you.

The State Labor government represented by Janelle Saffin was particularly generous with a grant of $50,000 as was the Lismore Council, the Nimbin Chamber of Commerce, the Hemp Embassy and Christopher Dean with donations of $10,000 or more each.

The financial outcome of the festival is looking sound, hopefully we will remain in the black after all disbursements are made.

Trading on the main street was reported to be very buoyant for both the shops and the day traders of which there were many. Future benefits will also come from revisitations. Perhaps some of our visitors will make Nimbin their home one day? 

A big shout out to the Mayor Steve Krieg and Deputy Mayor Jeri Hall for attending events, signalling council’s appreciation of our communities’ efforts to draw interest to our unique village.

It would be remiss of me not to thank the Hemp Embassy for organising another successful Mardi Grass which proceeded the Aquarius 50 celebrations. The push towards legalising Cannabis in Australia has been at the forefront of the Embassy’s agenda for many years, and great strides have been made to have this medicine available to the public without reproach.

Thank you to all involved in the planning and execution of another successful Mardi Grass event.

June may be a little quieter with many of us having a rest before we gear up for September.

The ball starts rolling again with the Spring Arts Festival at the Town Hall, as well as the return of the very successful Illuminate Nimbin. This event, back by popular demand is funded by Lismore Council and managed by the Nimbin Chamber. 

Illuminate Nimbin promises to be a night of fun for the whole family!  

With our members’ continued support, we look forward to building a better, stronger, and more vibrant village for our children and the community as a whole.