Julia Creek quadruples its population to host outback festival
Our role: PR, marketing and sponsorship across traditional, digital and social media and email channels
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Julia Creek is a tiny town 646km west of Townsville, which comes alive every April to host the Dirt n Dust Festival – one of Australia’s toughest and muddiest adventure runs, horse races and rodeos.
After being cancelled during COVID-19, the festival was on the brink of collapse. It was resurrected by a group of Julia Creek locals in 2022, and the original triathlon was reborn as the South 32 DND Adventure Run, the outback’s answer to Tough Mudder.
But dedicated locals and a packed event schedule aren’t enough to lure visitors to the outback town. The Dirt n Dust Festival needs widespread media coverage to boost awareness of the event and entice adventure runners, cowboys, jockeys, and supporters from hundreds of kilometres away.
Enter, Bloom PR. I was engaged to manage the PR and marketing to generate excitement and encourage people from Brisbane and surrounding regional areas of Mackay, Mt Isa and Townsville to attend.
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I managed the PR from Brisbane in the lead-up to the festival and travelled to Julia Creek for the event itself. I tailored the angle of each media pitch depending on the audience – focusing on everything from the economic boost to the region, to profiles of local rodeo competitors and the oldest Adventure Run participant, to Australia’s iconic Best Butt competition.
By leaning into the stories behind the festival and its participants, I secured widespread interest from regional, local, and state media.
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The town of 400 quadrupled in size, with the event attracting 1,800 attendees from throughout Queensland and the Northern Territory. Record numbers participated in the DnD Adventure Race, and accommodation and campgrounds were booked out in the region.
Participants in the rodeo and adventure run ranged from ages 7 to 88.
I secured coverage in print, online, radio, podcasts and social media, including The Courier Mail, Sunday Mail, Queensland Country Life, Townsville Bulletin, Mt Isa North West Star, ABC North West Radio, Rural Queensland Today, and Channel 7’s Weekender.
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I worked with Krista Hauritz, who specialises in outback tourism and events.
“We engaged Bloom PR for the 2024 Dirt n Dust Festival and 2024 Boulia Camel Races events. Danyelle produced great Media PR results for both events, securing multiple interviews across press, TV, and radio, including online and feature stories in ABC, Courier Mail, Townsville Bulletin and News Corp Australia, Ch 7 and ABC radio, Southern Cross Austereo and Resonate Broadcasting, just to name a few.
With short notice, Danyelle was able to secure strong coverage for both events, ensuring state-wide and national publicity, thanks to her strong understanding and experience, and her existing media networks.”
– Krista Hauritz
