Variety Bash Comes To Cowra

IMAGE: There was plenty of character on show for this year’s Variety Bash motor vehicle charity event, with cars having all sorts of themes, including this very passionate South Sydney Rabbitohs supporter.

The annual Variety Bash charity motoring event stopped in Cowra on Sunday night, providing a big economical boost to town.

It was the first time the Variety Bash had run since COVID, with this year’s event following a 4,378km inland route between Sydney and Mackay, Queensland.

Variety is a children’s charity, with the Variety Bash being its annual celebration of the fundraising efforts of its members.

The event involves members entering in vehicles that are 30 years old or older, with entrants encouraged to decorate or theme their vehicles as much as possible.

A different route for the event is planned each year, mostly following inland, regional routes, with the main concept being to support regional towns with an economic boost by its members staying and eating in each town.

While the Variety Bash itself is not a fundraiser, funds are raised via the registration fees members pay to participate. Members are also required to have fundraised at least $9500 per car entered in the Variety Bash for Variety before registering, with many getting sponsorships to enter.

The Bash held a dinner at the Cowra Services Club on Sunday night, as well as a breakfast at Mulyan Public School on Monday morning before hitting the highway to Griffith.

The breakfast was a fundraiser for MPS, with the Bash covering the cost of the food, enabling the school to profit from food sales.

With the Bash having been to Cowra previously, Chairman Jack Cannons said it was exciting to come back to Cowra. “We’ve been able to provide a big economic boost to Cowra, with our 300 participants spending their money in town,” he said.

“We offered to stop by Mulyan and host the breakfast as a way of supporting the school. We like to give to the communities we visit, and not take from them.” The trip to Cowra was the first day of this year’s event, which also stops in Griffith, Broken Hill, Bourke, Cunnamulla, Charleville, Roma and Rockhampton on the way to Mackay.

This year’s event has raised around $1.5 million, with around $240 million having been raised since the event’s inception in 1985.

The event was first created by Australian retail legend Dick Smith.