Contenders to revive Karratha’s FeNaClNG Festival revealed as City goes to tender

Hopes of reviving the fan-favourite FeNaClNG festival is a step closer with the local government calling on organisations to re-establish the event. The City of Karratha put out a tender on January 20 for interested parties to come forward for 2022. The expression of interest isopen until February 17 with the successful applicant to be announced on February 23. Among those set to put in a tender is hospitality group Onyx Events in association with Wrapped Creations. The two local businesses have teamed up and are calling on interested community organisations, sporting clubs and businesses to be part of the event. Onyx owner Sean Throssell said he wanted the community festival to return and said the response so far had been fantastic. “We would have more of a focus on local entertainment. We are trying to reach out to a few of the local bands in Roebourne,” he said. “There is quite a few strong country music bands out there we’d like to engage with.” Also putting in a proposal is Pilbara Party Hire who is seeking stallholders to register their interest. A City of Karratha spokesperson said the City has decided to deliver the event in 2021 with a view to transitioning to a community group for future years. It comes as the Karratha Dampier Lions Club, which has hosted the festival since its inception in Dampier in July, 1972, announced last March it would no longer run the festival “due to circumstances beyond our control”. “We would like to apologise for the inconvenience and impact to the community and stallholders concerned,” a statement said. It is understood the local Lions branch is no longer active in the town. Karratha Community Association were approached by the City last year to see if it was interested in running the festival, however, at a meeting on November 25 the local volunteer based group decided they were not in a position to take it on.