From the Film Australia Collection. Made by The National Film Board 1949. Directed by John Keating. Every year, when the Jacaranda trees flower, the citizens of Grafton hold their festival. Visitors from all over Australia visit the town; the carnival spirit works to a climax when there is dancing around the flowering jacaranda which grows so superbly in the Grafton Streets. A Queen of the Festival is crowned. This colourful ceremony is depicted in this film. Grafton's Jacaranda Festival Week started in 1934, long before most country towns organised their tourist trade around a yearly festival. This film, made soon after the war, shows preparations in the town, busloads of visitors arriving, and many celebrations framed by jacaranda branches. It portrays the multicultural aspect of Grafton as many different migrant groups celebrate in their traditional ways.
