Published Thursday 7 April 2016

THE Port Douglas Carnivale street parade will be revitalised this year with a swag of locals already registered for the popular annual party.

Widely viewed as the pinnacle of Carnivale, this years ‘Wonder of the Tropics’ themed parade has injected a healthy dose of enthusiasm amongst the Port Douglas community.

Hundreds of revellers from community groups, sporting clubs and business will turn Macrossan Street into ‘little Rio’ on Friday 20 May for what is one of the great traditions of the long-running event.

Astrid Van Peelan from the Daintree Marketing Cooperation said they were busy preparing an aptly themed ‘Wonders of the Daintree’ float that will showcase the bevy of offerings north of Mossman.

“We went in it for the very first time last year and are just so excited to be participating again,” Van Peelan said.

“We wanted to represent the Daintree in particular and make our float representative of all the wonderful tours you can do in the Daintree, which is such a beautiful part of the world.

“We see it as another opportunity to market the Daintree and, of course, it’s just a lot of fun to be involved in.”

Port Douglas Trike and Harley Tours owner Shaun Abrahams said the street parade was part of the towns ‘fabric’. His company has been involved in the event for as long as he can remember.

“It’s somewhat of a tradition so I was really keen to continue it on for another year,” Abrahams said.

“The business has always been involved, the parade’s a big part of the towns fabric and we are really looking forward to participating again.”

Rochelle Thompson from Belly Dance with Rochelle is hoping to put together a float full of colour and dance with her 15-strong class.

“We have done similar things in the past when I was in WA and its juts a whole to of fun,” she said.

“There is always lots of music and lots of noise, and we have all the props which would make a float really exciting.”

The Carnivale street parade will run from 5pm on festival Friday and will be bookended by a fireworks spectacular at 9pm. 

The party will then roll into the night with markets running and events on at the Wonderland Spiegeltent, a key feature of Carnivale 2016.

To register your float or for more information visit hwww.carnivale.com.au/event/carnivale-wonders-of-the-tropics-street-parade