Townsville City Council is collaborating with the Queensland Music Festival (QMF) to bring Glen Shorrock and the Help is on its Way Project to the North Australian Festival of Arts (NAFA).
The Help is on its Way Project has been developed by QMF to encourage conversation around mental health and will bring together a community choir to perform Glen Shorrock's hit 'Help is on its Way'.
Townsville's choir will include members of the community, Emergency Services, the Defence Force and Council involved in the response of the unprecedented monsoon.
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said she is proud to have such an incredible project coming to Townsville to raise awareness around mental health as part of NAFA.
"Mental health is such a prevalent issue, particularly in regional areas such as North Queensland," Cr Hill said.
"The Help is on its Way Project is a fantastic way to bring the community together and open the dialogue about mental health – particularly in the wake of the challenging times our community has been through.
"I'd really like to thank the Queensland Music Festival and Katie Noonan for working with Council to bring this to Townsville."
The concert will include a performance of some of the Little River Band hits and will conclude with the community choir singing 'Help is on its Way' on stage with Glen Shorrock.
Community and Cultural Development Committee Chair Cr Colleen Doyle said the Help is on its Way Project will add to the already rich NAFA program.
"An important part of holding an arts and culture festival is bringing the community together," Cr Doyle said.
"Mental health is an incredibly important issue in regional areas and bringing this project to NAFA will help foster conversation in Townsville.
"It's wonderful to have a national initiative like this as part of our NAFA program and I think it will really speak to both participants of the choir and to the audience."
Local Recovery and Resilience Group Chair Cr Les Walker said it is fantastic that the choir will be made up of community members involved in the disaster response.
"Townsville experienced a major disaster this year that has impacted not only our community, but the entire region," Cr Walker said.
"Through all of this our emergency services, the Defence Force, the SES, Council workers – and many others – were there to help the community.
"It's great that we can acknowledge everything they did during the monsoon to help protect the city and give them the opportunity to be a part of NAFA."
Registrations will open soon for those looking to be involved in the community choir.
