With the Jacaranda trees in full bloom, Illuminate shining bright, and Grafton painted (and planted) in purple, Grafton has already welcomed tens of thousands of locals and visitors within the first week.
Clarence Valley Council General Manager, Laura Black, would like to commend the efforts of the Jacaranda Festival Committee, their partners and Council staff who have contributed to delivering a huge first week.
"The Jacaranda Festival is the biggest event that Council supports each year through the Special Events Sponsorship."
"I'm proud to once again see our teams get out there and taking pride in this local event – from event and traffic management, licensing of parks and open spaces, bringing you Illuminate, beautifying the streets as well as the wonderful parks we have."
"While not all staff have a hands-on role, many staff come forward each year to participate in the annual Jacaranda performance, which Council has been participating in for the last 10 years."
This year's Jacaranda Festival Performance is out the front of the Grafton Customer Service Centre at 9am, 10am and 11am with staff encouraging people to come down on Thursday to sing and laugh along with them.
With this year's preparations overshadowed by a 'leaked' Council email, staff have gone to extra efforts to make sure it's something the community can enjoy.
"We have a great performance in store, and can guarantee that the staff made the right decision about a performance the community can laugh along with"
In light of the recent accusations, Mrs Black remains focused on getting on with the job and delivering for our community.
"Everyday I am making decisions based on the available information that I believe to be in the best interest of the community as a whole - that doesn't always make me popular,"
"If anybody feels that I've got something wrong, I encourage them to follow the due process"
"I don't always get it right, but in this instance, I'm confident that there is nothing in the claims being made against myself and some of the claims surrounding the 'leaked' email."
"We're now getting on with the job and the reason that we are all here – to make the Clarence Valley the best place to live"
"I'm proud that 93% of our workforce live here in the valley and every day I get to see people truly passionate about the contribution they make in the community", said Mrs Black.
