Soar & Roar Festival has been recognised for its outstanding work in events with the announcement of National Finalists in the 2019 Australian Event Awards.
Soar & Roar Festival is regarded as Australia’s Most Inclusive Motoring Festival and supports Special Olympics Australia to provide sporting opportunities to people with disabilities.
The event is a celebration of inclusion and has been described as the largest festival for International Day of People with Disability in New South Wales.
The Festival sees thousands from the motorcycling and classic car community provide people with an intellectual disability (ID) the opportunity to experience the thrill of a Dream Ride. All people with an intellectual disability who participate in the Festival also receive a free health screening.
Soar & Roar Festival, Event Director, Fran Eustace emphasized the importance of the event in helping to raise awareness for International Day of People with Disability on behalf of the 711,000 Australians with intellectual disabilities.
“People with ID can experience exclusion from many things that those without ID regularly take for granted. Studies have shown that the friendship group of people with ID is almost exclusively restricted to immediate family with an average of 1-2 friends.
“Soar & Roar Festival is a celebration of inclusion, which introduces the generous motoring community to people with ID and people with ID to Special Olympics.
“This is all about getting people introduced to new friends, catching up with old friends and raising funds to help get more people with ID access to sport and movement opportunities,” Fran Eustace said.
Following a rigorous first round of judging by event industry leaders and experts around Australia, Special Olympics Australia Soar & Roar Festival’s place amongst the National Finalists has the weight of the industry behind it.
Entries are judged on all aspects of the achievement including innovation, best practice and sustainability as well as the achievement’s contribution to events and the difficulties encountered in executing it.
Co-chair of the Event Awards Judging Panel Peter Rix AM said:
“The Australian Events industry has been a world-leader for many years now and this year’s achievements demonstrate why. The skill, determination and innovation displayed by all the finalists is remarkable.
They are to be congratulated for not being content to rest on their professional laurels, but for pushing the boundaries of achievement and looking for new and more spectacular ways to put on their respective shows.”
Winners of the Australian Event Awards will be announced at a lavish Awards Ceremony on 18 September at Optus Stadium, Perth.
Find out more at www.soarandroar.com.au