Riverway Arts Centre (stage 1) was officially opened on 15th July 2006 at 10.30am by the then Premier of Queensland, Peter Beattie.
The centre was built with Thuringowa City Council, Queensland State Government, and Australian Federal Government funding. It was designed by Michael Rayner of Cox Rayner, Brisbane, who also designed the Museum of Tropical Queensland, Cairns Esplanade, Artspace Mackay, and the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The opening river festival celebrations for stage 1 were scheduled for July 8th to 16th, 2006.
The Centre contains a 380 seat ‘flexible performance space’, a separate amphitheatre which slopes from the rear of the building, Pinnacles Art Gallery, and a café restaurant overlooking the Upper and Lower swimming Lagoons.
Mr Glen Arboit was appointed the first cultural centre manager.
Below is the week long River Festival Programme run in conjunction with the opening of Riverway.
| River Festival Programme | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday July 8 2006 | |||
| Day | 9am – 4pm | Coca Cola Ross River Rampage | Ross River |
| National wakeboarding championships | |||
| 10am – 4pm | Battle of the Bands | Amphitheatre Stage | |
| 10am – 6pm | Citibeach VolleyBall Challenge | Skate Park | |
| 10am – 6pm | Thuringowa Bulldogs AFL clinics | River pontoon area | |
| 11am – 5pm | Multi-cultural Food Court | Food Court | |
| Evening | 6pm – 8pm | Australian Festival of Chamber Music “an Exuberant Affair” | Riverway Arts Centre |
| 6pm – 9pm | Riverway Opening Concert featuring two bands Pachooka, a unique band who blend disco, funk, and reggae sounds with directions grooves and hip hop, and Doch whose style combines fast tempos and mellow tunes making them popular for all ages. | Amphitheatre Stage | |
| 6.15pm – 9pm | Launch of Plastic, Water, and the New White Cube Exhibition. | Pinnacles Art Centre | |
| Sunday July 9 2006 | |||
| Day | 8am – noon | TOTTS Inc – Walk from Loam Island | The Valley |
| 11am – 6pm | Multi-cultural Food Court | Food Court | |
| noon – 4pm | Family Picnic presented by NQ Water | The Valley | |
| noon – 4pm | Riverway Rowing Challenge | Ross River | |
| 2pm – 3pm | Serenata – Flute and String Quartet | Lagoon Stage | |
| 3pm – 4pm | Howlin Blue Dogs | Lagoon Stage | |
| NQ Toyota Cowboys Player visit presented by Townsville Bulletin | The Valley | ||
| 4pm – 5pm | Barramundi Brothers | Lagoon Stage | |
| 4pm – 5pm | DVA is a unique blend of Macedonian and South Indian sounds through the use of percussion, hybrid winds and looping. | Riverway Arts Centre | |
| Evening | 6pm – 8pm | Riverway Concert featuring Stiff Gins, a band of two Aboriginal girls who fuss jazz and blues and recreate some classics. They will be supported by local artists Natasha and Nerida George. | Amphitheatre Stage |
| Monday July 10 2006 | |||
| Day | noon -5pm | Thuringowa Youth Council Pool Party presented by NQ Water | Lagoons |
| BeatBoxer Beau O’Brien, with Hip Hop acts Blu Tag, and Soldier’s Hill. | Lagoons | ||
| Evening | 5.30pm – 7.30pm | Squirt, featuring Linsey Pollak, is an interactive and performance installation using water squirted from bottles to trigger the sounds of Australian frogs. | Lagoons |
| 7.30pm – 9.30pm | Riverway Pop featuring Abby Road | Amphitheatre Stage | |
| Tuesday July 11 2006 | |||
| Evening | 5pm - 9pm | Riverway Jazz featuring local artists Captain Nemo and Misinterprotato, who are a Brisbane-based Australian piano trio (piano, bass, drums) that performs original contemporary improvised music. Presented by WATPAC. | Lagoon Stage |
| 7.30pm - 9pm | Down By The River is a theatrical representation of the history of the Riverway area. This performance piece will include oral history and images and is a collaboration between Thuringowa Council's Heritage Services and La Luna Youth Arts Inc, funded by RADF and Arts Queensland. | Riverway Arts Centre | |
| Wednesday July 12 2006 | |||
| Day | 10am | Dorothy the Dinosaur Show | Riverway Arts Centre |
| Noon | Captain Feathersword Show | ||
| 2pm | Dorothy the Dinosaur Show | ||
| 4pm | Captain Feathersword Show Presented by QNI. | ||
| Evening | 5pm - 8pm | Riverway Strings featuring The Licks + Kirwan High String Ensemble | Lagoon Stage |
| 8pm - 10.30pm | Riverway Comedy featuring Steve Abbott (The Sandman), Rachel Berger, David Williams, and Ahn Do, presented by Ferry Property Group. | Riverway Arts Centre | |
| Thursday July 13 2006 | |||
| Evening | 5pm - 6pm | Melaleuca String Quartet | Lagoon Stage |
| 6pm - 10pm | Gulalbi Short Film Festival - view the best of local short films screened alongside the Tropfest Short Film Festival finalists | Amphitheatre Stage | |
| 8pm - 10pm | Kate Miller Heidke. Her pieces range from haunting, sliding melodies to a comic opera and her own pop songs. Hailed as "One of the most exciting female performers to recently emerge" Courier Mail) | Riverway Arts Centre | |
| Friday July 14 2006 | |||
| Evening | 5pm - 9pm | Multi-cultural Food Court | Food Court |
| Riverway Night Markets with Rhythm Connection and Brasil Capoera, presented by Santalucia Group | Village Spine | ||
| 5pm - 10pm | Riverway Blues presented by Telstra Country Wide, featuring - Freedom Express, Matt Ryder, Hat Fitz and Ichy who combine control of mayhem in a repertoire that includes his own interpretations of blues classics as well as a swag of original songs. Collard Greens and Gravy-winners of Best Independent Blues Album in Tennessee 2005. | Amphitheatre Stage | |
| 7pm | Fluid Vision is a screen of water, a short film, GLOW dancers and local indigenous performance group Nyarku, choreographed into a spectacular performance over the lagoons. | Lagoons | |
| 7pm - 11pm | Riverway Gala Dinner, presented by Honeycombes Property Group | Riverway Arts Centre | |
| Saturday July 15 2006 | |||
| Day | 11am - 5pm | River Activities including water ski, dragon boating & wooden boat displays, presented by Thuringowa Water | Ross River |
| Market and Exhibits | Village Spine | ||
| Kelso Art Group Exhibition, Punch & Judy Show, Reef HQ Aquarium Show | The Valley | ||
| Multi-cultural Food Court | Food Court | ||
| 11am - 6pm | Eat, Drink, Talk Art, a RADF Showcase event - performances and presentations by RADF artists | Riverway Arts Centre | |
| Noon - 5pm | Totally WicKid Skate Comp, presented by John Holland Pty Ltd & McMahon Contractors Pty Ltd | Skate Park | |
| Evening | 7pm - 10pm | Kisschasy, from Melbourne, are one of the most promising new acts in the country with songs that are passionate and timeless. concert presented by McDonalds | Amphitheatre Stage |
| Sunday July 16 2006 | |||
| Day | 8am - 11am | Daybreak Rotary Fu Walk | River Pontoon Area |
| 11am - 5pm | Dance Expo will run all day with local performers from twin cities dance studios and cultural groups, such as Extensions, TAPA, and Bell Academy of Dance. | Riverway Arts Centre | |
| River Activities - join in the fun on the river including cruises, outriggers, water skiing, life saving, wooden boats | Ross River | ||
| Markets, exhibits and displays. Riverway will come alive with more than 80 exhibition and market stalls. | The Valley, Car Park & Village Spine. | ||
| Dance And Music featuring the best of local performers including Camarata Singers, WASSA and Claire King and the Jargon. | Amphitheatre Stage | ||
| Multi-cultural Food Court | Food Court | ||
| Evening | 6pm | Fire And Water Spectacular will feature giant puppets, a fire breathing dragon, glow and fire dancers, a high tech light show, pyrotechnics show with world class production, presented by Ramm Group and Lancini Group of Companies | River/Amphitheatre Stage |
For images of Riverway Arts Centre click here
