Rodney Stevens The hottest place in the Clarence Valley on Saturday will be Maclean as the community comes together to celebrate the reignited Cane Harvest Festival. Harking back to yesteryear, the streets of Maclean will come alive on April 12 with activities, exhibitions, music, and people for the first time in more than 25 years. The 2025 Cane Harvest Festival will also celebrate the centenary of the Clarence Canegrowers Association. Clarence Harvest Celebration President Allira Robison said from the committee’s research they have discovered the last Cane Harvest Festival was held in 1998. Mrs Robison said momentum to reignite the Cane Harvest Festival grew following the 150-year celebrations of the Harwood Sugar Mill in August 2024. “My father, Ross Farlow, is the chairman of Clarence Canegrowers and he asked, ‘what are we going to do, it’s the centenary next year, we have to do something,” she said. “After the Harwood Mill celebration there was a lot of talk in the community about the day there and how great it was with everybody coming out and how amazing it would be to see the Cane Harvest Festival back up and running. “The 150-year celebration of the Harwood Mill was a huge driving force behind this festival.” What started as a small plan has grown into the rebirth of a beloved event, driven by the community and sponsored by local businesses. “It started as very small plan, lets have a couple of food trucks and some music, and a little float parade, and it’s turned into a major scale festival with 62 float parade entrants, multiple musicians with Troy Cassar-Daley headlining, and it has absolutely exceeded our expectations,” Mrs Robison said. In August 2024 the initial Clarence Harvest Celebration committee of 10 people was formed. “The word spread around town, it turned into a committee of over 20 people and from there we decided that we had the interest there, so we formed our own association in order for us to be able to continue the festival year after year,” Mrs Robison said. “As the 150th Harwood Mill celebration was such a great educational experience for the community we thought what a great opportunity to continue that knowledge growth.” Ms Robison said due to the last Cane Harvest Festival being held in 1998, a generation of Clarence Valley people haven’t experienced what it is all about. “We are finding that people from my generation, we were all young children going around doing the ‘spot it’ competitions, and now we’re out doing it with our kids,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of exposure to the youth of the community and they’re really excited, we’ve had a huge response in the school banner parade, so I think the youth of the Clarence Valley are going to be well represented.” The committee have been well supported by Clarence Valley Council, Mrs Robison said, with a Council representative attending all meetings and providing advice. Mrs Robison said two highlights from previous festivals will return next year. “We decided to delay the Billy Cart Derby as well as the Cane Harvest Queen Quest until next year, as they are well received parts of the Cane Harvest Festival, we wanted to do them justice and we felt that this year, potentially that may not happen, so for next year those things are at the top of our list,” she said The festival will kick off at 12pm with the Float Parade down River Street showcasing local schools, sporting groups and community organisations, as well as a machinery display. At 1pm the gates open to Cameron Park with food trucks and market stalls available. Music starts at 2pm with popular Clarence Valley talent Adam Hourigan, followed by Sonny James at 4pm, the headline act Troy Cassar-Daley at 6pm, and Pistol Whip at 7pm, before the festival concludes at 9pm.