Since the inaugural Grafton Jacaranda Festival was held in 1935 and attracted an estimated 4000 attendees to the region, it has become Australia’s foremost floral celebration.

As community excitement and enthusiasm blooms as brilliantly as the bright purple blossoms on the famous jacaranda trees which line the streets of the regional city each year, and thousands of visitors from across the country and overseas journey to the Clarence Valley to share in the history of the time honoured annual festivity while immersing themselves amongst local attractions, characters, and traditions throughout a colourful and exuberant 10 day program, the Grafton Jacaranda Festival continues to grow in popularity as an iconic and well-loved event unlike any other.

Year after year, it embraces the familiar feelings of pride and sentimentality, and its survival is testament to the countless volunteers and supporters who have generously donated their time and energy towards its ongoing success.

As the Grafton Jacaranda Festival celebrates its 90th Anniversary in 2024, another chapter will be added to its enduring legacy, and its proud history will continue to grow and evolve as it has done triumphantly throughout the past nine decades.

In 1943, Marie Fraser was crowned the first Jacaranda Queen, a symbolic gesture which signified the highest honour to be bestowed upon a woman from Grafton in recognition of her deportment, etiquette, dress sense, and local knowledge.

It was a role created not only as a tribute to the beauty of the jacaranda trees, but also as an ambassadorship, and as a proud representative of her community.

Throughout the following years many women, all sponsored in their quests by local businesses, have nominated for the role, with several Jacaranda Queens and Jacaranda Queen candidates describing the experience as lifechanging and inspirational.

A number of well loved and respected women including Vois Schwinghammer, Lexie Langley, Jane Navin, Belinda Steele, Tracey Lawson, and Sarah Templeton have received the honour of being crowned Jacaranda Queen.

In 2022, the Grafton Jacaranda Festival opened the Jacaranda Queen candidacy to all gender identities, with candidates allowed to select their own title including King, Queen, or Ambassador, should they receive the honour of being crowned during the traditional Jacaranda Royal Party Crowning Ceremony in Grafton’s Market Square.

The Grafton Jacaranda Festival has also overcome many unprecedented challenges throughout its history.

After the Covid-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the festival in 2020 and restricted many of the festivities from going ahead in 2021, the unwavering love and support for the beloved event, locally, nationally, and internationally, has been instrumental in its successful continuation as the oldest floral festival in Australia.

Amidst the flowering jacaranda trees in 2024, people will come together again to be part of its history in a blooming strong show of strength and resilience, and community spirit.  

This article appeared in the  Clarence Valley Independent, 23 October 2024.