Continued support for pioneer cemetery walks

Council has committed $37,500 over the next three years to assist the Cairns & District Family History Society Inc (CDFHS) with their annual production of Shadows from the Past.

Established in 1989 as a not-for-profit incorporated association, the CDFHS promotes family history and genealogical research in Cairns and surrounding districts.

Since 2014, the society’s Shadows from the Past program of dramatised walks through the historic McLeod Street Pioneer Cemetery has been a highlight on the Cairns calendar.

The society created the program to aid in the revitalisation and promotion of this key Queensland heritage-listed asset, and it has proven to be an incredibly popular event, with every season being fully booked.

Each year the Society works with a professional writer and director to develop the stories of a selection of pioneers buried in the cemetery.

Council has supported the production financially since 2016 and will provide CDFHS with $12,500 per annum over the next three years.