A huge thank you to everyone who came along and supported the inaugural Legends of Nimbin Volunteers Awards Night. What a night!

Special thanks to our beautiful MC, Rebecca, who held it all together so effortlessly, and to our incredible presenters — such a lovely mix of generations, voices, and stories.

Big appreciation to the Nimbin Bowlo for hosting us, to Pauline Ahern for creating the unique and wonderful awards, and to Mick Toner and his crew for putting together a delicious buffet just for us.

Thanks as well to Leif and crew for the warm, welcoming music, to Andrew from NimFM for recording the evening, and to Rain Wickham for capturing it all through photos and videos.

This night really came together through teamwork and so many generous, organic contributions and gestures. As Tony Gibson said on the night,

“It feels so good to be one of us.”

There are so many volunteers who keep Nimbin ticking and make this community what it is. It was, of course, impossible to acknowledge everyone all at once. But we hope this is just the beginning — the first of many nights where we get to celebrate the people who give so much. And truthfully, it was never meant to be too serious… just a good excuse to come together, share a meal, and celebrate what makes this place so special.

To all nominees: someone saw you, appreciated what you do, and took the time to put your name forward. We received so many beautiful stories — honestly, we could have written a book — so what you’ll read here are shorter versions that try to capture their essence. And in the end, it’s these stories and what we give that stay with a community, which is why we’re sharing them all here.

The jury aimed to both honour the depth of contributions across our community and shine a light on people and groups working more behind the scenes — recognising the vital work that doesn’t always get the spotlight. We’ve heard some feedback about the age of nominees — and we hear you. The nominations reflect what came through, but we’d love to see more young people recognised next year.

We’re already thinking about additional/different categories that might speak more to younger generations, and we’d love your ideas. We’re also keen to involve young people in the judging process going forward. Because in the end, getting more young people involved is exactly the challenge — and the opportunity — ahead of us.