Mareeba is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Shire of Mareeba The Shire of Mareeba is a Local government in Australia, local government area at the base of Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, inland from Cairns, Queensland, Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mareeba, Queensland, Mare ...

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns, Queensland, Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stret ...

, Australia. Between 2008 and 2013, it was within the

Tablelands Region The Tablelands Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia inland from the city of Cairns, Queensland, Cairns. Established in 2008, it was preceded by four previous local government areas ...

. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ''meeting of the waters''. In the , the locality of Mareeba had a population of 11,825 people.

Geography

The town is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

on the confluence of the Barron River, Granite Creek and Emerald Creek. The town's main street is the

Mulligan Highway The Mulligan Highway is a state highway in Queensland, Australia. It runs for approximately 266 km between Mareeba and Cooktown, on the east coast of Cape York Peninsula where it terminates. It is signed as State Route 81 from Mareeba to ...

which branches off from the

Kennedy Highway The Kennedy Highway is a highway in northern Queensland, Australia. It runs as National Route 1 for approximately 243 km from Smithfield, on the northern outskirts of Cairns, to the Gulf Developmental Road in the vicinity of Forty Mile Sc ...

when coming in from Cairns (63.3 km; 40 miles) away passing localities such as Speewah, Kuranda and Barron Gorge. The

Tablelands railway line The Tablelands railway line is a railway line in North Queensland, Australia. It was opened in a series of sections between 1887 and 1916. It commences at Cairns and at its maximum extent, reached Ravenshoe at the southern end of the ...

enters the locality from the north ( Biboohra), passes through the town, and exits to the west (

Chewko Chewko is a rural Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. In the , Chewko had a population of 213 people. Geography Chewko has the following mountains: * Mount Abbot () * Mount Aunt () * ...

). The locality is served by the following railway stations (from north to south): * Floreat railway station, now abandoned () * Mareeba railway station () * Turkinje railway station, now abandoned () The

Lotus Glen Correctional Centre Lotus Glen Correctional Centre is an Australian prison facility located 14 km south of Mareeba, Queensland, Mareeba and 20 km north of Atherton, Queensland, Atherton in the locality of Arriga, Queensland, Arriga in Far North Queensla ...

is located in Arriga, 14 km; 9 miles outside Mareeba.

History

Prior to European settlement, the area around Mareeba was inhabited by the Muluridji people, who spoke a Guugu Yalandji dialect. They maintained a hunter/gatherer existence in the area between Mount Carbine, Mareeba, Rumula (near Julatten) and Woodville (near

Canoona Canoona is a rural locality in the Livingstone Shire, Queensland, Australia. It was the site of the first North Australian gold rush. In the , Canoona had a population of 90 people. Geography The Fitzroy River forms the southern boundary of ...

), mainly concentrated between Biboohra and Mount Molloy. In the local Aboriginal language, Mareeba means meeting of the waters - referring to the point at which the Barron River is joined by Granite Creek. On 26 May 1875,

James Venture Mulligan James Venture Mulligan (13 February 1837 – 24 August 1907) was an Ireland-born Australian prospector and explorer. Early life Mulligan was born in Drumgooland, County Down and emigrated to Australia at the age of 21 in 1860. He settled at ...

became the first European officially to see the future site of Mareeba when he rode up the eastern bank of the Barron River, and passed the junctions of Emerald Creek and Granite Creek. The Mareeba area was first settled by Europeans in 1877 by

John Atherton John Atherton (1598 – 5 December 1640) was the Anglican Bishop of Waterford and Lismore in the Church of Ireland. He and John Childe (his steward and tithe proctor) were both tried and executed for buggery in 1640. Life and death Early li ...

, who arrived with cattle at Emerald End, which is just north of the town today. Mareeba quickly became a busy coach stop for

Cobb & Co Cobb & Co was the name used by several independent Australian coach businesses. The first company to use 'Cobb & Co' was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name grew to great prominence in the late 19th century, ...

on the road from

Port Douglas Port Douglas is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Douglas, Queensland, Australia, approximately north of Cairns. In the , the locality of Port Douglas had a population of 3,650 people. The town's population can often double, however, ...

Herberton Herberton is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Herberton had a population of 895 people. Geography Herberton is on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland. It is situate ...

. When the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

arrived in 1893, Mareeba grew into a busy town. Mareeba Post Office opened on 25 August 1893 (a

receiving office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

named Granite Creek had been open from 1891). A Mareeba Diggings Post Office opened by 1893 and closed in 1905. Mareeba Provisional School opened on 28 August 1893 with 46 students under head teacher Denis Horan; by December that year, there were 96 students. It became Mareeba State School on 1 January 1899. In 1940, it was designated a Rural School, meaning that it taught more practical skills needed by farming families, such as agriculture for boys and needlework for girls. St Thomas of Villanova Catholic School opened on 1 January 1909. St Thomas' celebrated their centenary in 2009. The Mareeba parish of the Roman Catholic Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown (now the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns) was established in 1911.

Ambulance services An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to m ...

commenced in Mareeba in 1922 with an honorary ambulance officer issued with a

first-aid kit First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with a medical emergency, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery until medical services arrive. First aid is gener ...

. In 1942, Mareeba acquired a rail ambulance to transport patients by train. It was one of the last rail ambulances in Queensland with its last patient transported in 1983. From 1942 to 1945 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, up to 10,000 Australian and US service personnel used

Mareeba Airfield Mareeba Airfield is an airfield located south of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. Built in 1942 as a US Army Air Force base during World War II, the airfield had two runways, with a complement of taxiways, hardstands and a containment area. Af ...

as a staging post for battles in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and the

South West Pacific theatre The South West Pacific theatre, during World War II, was a major theatre of the war between the Allies and the Axis. It included the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies (except for Sumatra), Borneo, Australia, its mandate Territory of New Guin ...

. The Americans referred to it as Hoevet Field in honour of Major Dean Carol "Pinky" Hoevet who was killed on 16 August 1942. Units that were based at Mareeba included No. 5 Squadron of the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

(RAAF), No. 100 Squadron RAAF, the Australian 33rd Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, the 19th Bomb Group of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

( USAAF), the 43rd Bomb Group USAAF and the 8th Fighter Group USAAF. For a period of two years during World War II, Mareeba State School was taken over by the army, so St Thomas’ Catholic School accommodated the entire school population of Mareeba. In 1949, Mareeba State School expanded to offer secondary schooling with an initial enrolment of 17 students. In 25 January 1960,

Mareeba State High School Mareeba State High School is a public, co-educational, high school, located in the town of Mareeba, in Queensland, Australia. It is administered by the Department of Education, with an enrolment of 790 students and a teaching staff of 64, as of ...

opened as a dedicated secondary school and Mareeba State School resumed its role as a primary school. Mareeba Library opened in 1958. It underwent a major refurbishment in 1985. Mareeba is also home to an Albanian Australian community that dates from the interwar period. Built by local Albanian Australians, the Mareeba Mosque was opened on

Anzac Day Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and ...

, 1970 and is dedicated to Australian soldiers who lost their lives in war. On 24 January 2006, St Stephen's Catholic College opened after a nearly 10-year approval process regarding the provision of Catholic secondary education. In October 2011, most of the land (209 hectares; 516 acres) of the former state farm / research station at Kairi was sold by the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

, retaining only 26 hectares (65 acres). The sale of the land was to fund the establishment of the Agri-Science Hub at Peters Street in Mareeba. The hub focusses on agricultural research and development, together with education and training.

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cair ...

is a partner of the hub, researching

tropical agriculture Worldwide more human beings gain their livelihood from agriculture than any other endeavor; the majority are self-employed subsistence farmers living in the tropics. While growing food for local consumption is the core of tropical agriculture, ...

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

and

biosecurity Biosecurity refers to measures aimed at preventing the introduction or spread of harmful organisms (e.g. viruses, bacteria, plants, animals etc.) intentionally or unintentionally outside their native range or within new environments. In agricult ...

. The hub opened on 16 December 2011. In the

2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum The 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum was a Referendums in Australia, constitutional referendum held on 14October 2023 in which the proposed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice was rejected. Voters were asked to approve an Co ...

, 85% of Mareeba's residents voted No which was one of the largest proportion of No votes in the country.

Demographics

In the 2006 census, the town of Mareeba had a population of 6,806 people. In the 2011 census, the locality of Mareeba had a population of 10,181 people. In the , the locality of Mareeba had a population of 11,079 people. Mareeba included the largest

Italian Australian Italian Australians () are Australian-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to Australia during the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people in Australia. Italian Australia ...

community of any suburb in Queensland, with 1,608 people making up 10.8% of the population. In the , the locality of Mareeba had a population of 11,825 people.

Heritage listings

Mareeba has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...

sites, including: * Mareeba Shire Hall, 136 Walsh Street *

Assay Office Assay offices are institutions set up to assay (test the purity of) precious metals. This is often done to protect consumers from buying fake items. Upon successful completion of an assay (i.e. if the metallurgical content is found be equal or bette ...

, 167 Walsh Street * Mareeba Uniting Church, 189 Walsh Street (cnr Rankin Street) ()

Climate

Mareeba has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

( Köppen: Aw), with a short, hot

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...

from December to March and a lengthy, warm

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

from April to November. Due to its elevation, average minima are lowered: ranging from in August to in January to February. In addition, due to being in a

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...

, average annual rainfall is only . Despite Mareeba township's tagline reading "300 sunny days a year", and its reputation as a sunny place, Mareeba only receives 86.2 clear days annually. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 5 January 1994 to on 28 June 1963. Temperature, rainfall and 3 pm conditions were taken from the new Mareeba Airport weather station, which opened in 2000. Meanwhile, extreme temperature data was combined from Mareeba's QWRC, old Airport and new Airport weather stations. In addition, sun data was taken from Walkamin Research Station, 7.1 km south of the town.

Economy

Numerous

crops A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. In other words, a crop is a plant or plant product that is grown for a specific purpose such as food, fibre, or fuel. When plants of the same species a ...

are grown throughout

Mareeba Shire The Shire of Mareeba is a local government area at the base of Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, inland from Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mareeba, covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from ...

, including

avocado The avocado, alligator pear or avocado pear (''Persea americana'') is an evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to Americas, the Americas and was first domesticated in Mesoamerica more than 5,000 years ago. It was priz ...

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

es,

lychee Lychee ( , ; ''Litchi chinensis''; ) is a monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus ''Litchi'' in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae. There are three distinct subspecies of lychee. The most common is the Indochinese lychee found in So ...

longan ''Dimocarpus longan'', commonly known as the longan () and dragon's eye, is a tropical tree species that produces edible fruit. It is one of the better-known tropical members of the soapberry family Sapindaceae, to which the lychee and rambu ...

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

cashew Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree ''Anacardium occidentale'', in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to South America and is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple, an accessory fruit. The tree can grow as t ...

macadamia ''Macadamia'' is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia—specifically, northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland. Two species of the genus are comm ...

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

tea tree oil Tea tree oil, also known as melaleuca oil, is an essential oil with a fresh, camphoraceous odour and a colour that ranges from pale yellow to nearly colourless and clear. It is derived from the leaves of the tea tree, '' Melaleuca alternif ...

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

and a variety of

vegetables Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including flowers, fruits, ...

and

tropical fruits There are many fruits that typically grow in warm tropical climates or equatorial areas. Tropical fruits Varieties of tropical fruit include: * Abiu * Açaí * Acerola (West Indian cherry; Barbados cherry) * Achachairú (Bolivian mangosteen; ...

Poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

are also common.

Tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

was once the main grown crop of the local economy, but is no longer grown within the Mareeba shire.

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

also contributes to the local economy.

Education

Mareeba State School is a government primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at Constance Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 866 students with 69 teachers (64 full-time equivalent) and 48 non-teaching staff (33 full-time equivalent). In includes a

special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

program. St Thomas' School is a Catholic primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at 63 Constance Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 426 students with 33 teachers (26 full-time equivalent) and 27 non-teaching staff (15 full-time equivalent).

is a government secondary (7–12) school for boys and girls in Jasper Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 732 students with 70 teachers (66 full-time equivalent) and 45 non-teaching staff (33 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education program. St Stephen's Catholic College is a Catholic secondary (7–12) school for boys and girls at 3 McIver Road (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 555 students with 57 teachers (48 full-time equivalent) and 32 non-teaching staff (22 full-time equivalent).

Health

Mareeba Hospital is in the Tablelands Health District. It provides 52 beds, with surgical, maternity, pediatric, outpatient, emergency and x-ray facilities.

Sports

Mareeba Gladiators are the local

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

team. The Gladiators participate in the

Cairns District Rugby League The Cairns District Rugby League was formed on 5 August 1918 and is the administrative body for the game of rugby league football in Cairns, Queensland. The CDRL runs senior, junior and women's club competitions and has its headquarters at Barl ...

competition. They last won the Premiership in 2007.

Amenities

Mareeba Shire Council operates a public library at 221 Byrnes Street. The library facility opened in 1958, with a major refurbishment in 1985 and minor refurbishment in 2013. The Mareeba branch of the

Queensland Country Women's Association The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) is the Queensland chapter of the Country Women's Association in Australia. The association seeks to serve the interests of women and children in rural areas in Australia through a network of loca ...

meets at the CWA Hall on the corner of Dempster Street and Wilkes Street. The Cairns Aerial Outpost branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at 15 Wilson Street. St Thomas of Villanova's Catholic Church is at 59 Constance Street. St Stephen's College at Lot 3 McIver Road also has a Catholic church. Both are within the Mareeba Parish of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cairns is located in the state of Queensland, Australia. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane. The diocese was erected as a vicariate apostolic in 1877 and was elevated to a diocese in 1941. It ...

. The Mareeba Mosque is at 108 Walsh Street.

Media

Mareeba is serviced by the following radio stations: * 4AM 558 * ABC Far North 720 *

ABC Radio National ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. ...

105.1 *

ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News (United States), ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five-minute newscasts on the hour ...

101.1 *

ABC Classic ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. I ...

105.9 *

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

107.5 * Hit FM 103.5 *

KIK FM Darwin FM is a dance music station located in Darwin, Northern Territory Australia broadcasting on the frequencies 91.5 Megahertz, MHz, 88 MHz, and online. The first broadcast went to air in 1995 focusing on the club culture of the world. I ...

88.7 *

Black Star Radio FM Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''Psyc ...

96.7 *

Rhema FM Rhema FM is the name used for a number of Christian radio stations established with the help of, and assisted for many years by United Christian Broadcasters (UCB) in Australia. Each station is independent, being run and programmed locally with ma ...

92.3 *

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a mainstream/classic rock music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and B ...

99.5

Attractions

Tourist attractions in the Mareeba Shire include the Golden Drop Mango Winery, Jaques Coffee Plantation, Coffee Works, Mareeba Heritage Museum, Mareeba Rock Wallabies and Granite Gorge Nature Park, Emerald Creek Falls, and Davies Creek Falls.

Events

The Mareeba Rodeo and Festival is held annually, with the first Affiliated Mareeba Rodeo held in July 1949 (which is now the home ground of the ''Gladiators''

Rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

team). The rodeo is hosted at the Kerribee Park Rodeo Grounds, located slightly out of town on route to Dimbulah. In 2014, the attendance was 13,000, almost double the town's normal population. A parade through the town is held, and the Rodeo Queen is crowned (the first Princess was crowned in 1959). A

ute muster A ute muster is an Australian festival which brings together large numbers of utes and their owners. These events typically include competitions and other side events, occur annually, and normally last several days and are held in rural and reg ...

is often staged over the same weekend as the rodeo. In 1999 Mareeba District Rodeo Association Inc. celebrated their 50 years Golden Jubilee of the foundation of the Association and 20 years of the opening of "Kerribee Park". The FNQ Country Music Festival and Talent Search is held annually at Kerribee Park Rodeo Grounds. The event is hosted by the Walkamin Country Music Club. Each year on the third Sunday of January, St Thomas's Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Santo Nino which celebrates

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

as a child. The event is of special significance to the

Filipino Australians Filipino Australians (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Mga Australyanong Pilipino'') are Australians of Filipino people, Filipino ancestry. Filipino Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Overseas Filipino, Filipino diaspora. ...

. After the

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

, there is a celebratory meal of

Filipino cuisine Filipino cuisine is composed of the cuisines of more than a hundred distinct Ethnic groups in the Philippines, ethnolinguistic groups found throughout the Philippines, Philippine archipelago. A majority of mainstream Filipino dishes that comp ...

. Each year, on the second Sunday of September, St Thomas's Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of the Chain. The celebration begins with a procession through various streets of Mareeba and culminates in a fireworks display.

Photo gallery

File:Moved Termite Mounts Mareeba.JPG, Moved termite mounds, Mareeba File:Coffee Harvester Mareeba.JPG, Coffee bean harvester, Mareeba

Notable residents

Aron Baynes Aron John Baynes (born 9 December 1986) is an Australian former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Washington State University before starting his professional career in Europe. In 2013, he joined the San Antonio ...

(born 1986), Australian basketball player 2014 NBA champion * Harriett Brims (1864–1939), pioneer female commercial photographer *

Steven Ciobo Steven Michele Ciobo ( ) (born 29 May 1974) is a retired Australian politician who represented the Division of Moncrieff in the House of Representatives from the 2001 federal election until his retirement at the 2019 election. He was a memb ...

(born 1974), Australian politician * Tom Gilmore, Jr. (1946-2024), Australian politician * Katie Page (born 1956), CEO of

Harvey Norman Harvey Norman is an Australian multinational retailer of furniture, bedding, computers, communications and consumer electrical products. It mainly operates as a franchise, with the main brand and all company-operated stores owned by ASX-lis ...

Ernest Riordan Ernest Joseph "Dick" Riordan (21 September 1901 – 9 December 1954) was a Miner, Stevedore, Wharf labourer, and member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Early years Riordan was born at Mareeba, Queensland, to parents William Riordan and ...

(1901–1954), Australian politician *

Chris Sheppard Chris Sheppard (born ), also known as DJ Dogwhistle, is a Canadian DJ, record producer and musician. One of the leading figures in the Canadian dance music scene in the 1980s and 1990s, he was active as both a club and radio DJ. From the 1990s ...

(born 1981), Australian

player *

Wayne Srhoj Wayne Srhoj (born 23 March 1982, in Mareeba) is an Australian soccer player who plays for Mareeba Bulls FC in the Far North Queensland soccer zone. Club career Between summer of 2006 and February 2007, Srhoj and teammate Abiodun Agunbiade did ...

(born 1982), Australian footballer * Deon St. Mor, Australian business owner and designer *

Owsley Stanley Augustus Owsley Stanley III (January 19, 1935 – March 12, 2011) was an American-Australian audio engineer and clandestine chemist. He was a key figure in the San Francisco Bay Area hippie movement during the 1960s and played a pivotal role ...

, (1935–2011), American counter-culture figure of the 1960s (

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...

;

The Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, and world music with psyc ...

)

References

External links

University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Mareeba

Mareeba State Primary School Website

Mareeba Heritage Centre Website

Mareeba Historical Society

Annual reports Mareeba Hospitals Board 1951 to 1990

State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...

{{authority control Towns in Queensland Populated places in Far North Queensland Shire of Mareeba Queensland in World War II Localities in Queensland