The Lilac City Festival, known affectionately as ‘Lilac Time’, is Australia’s longest continuously-run community festival! The festival was established in 1951, and has occurred annually every October long weekend. The lilac was selected by Goulburn citizens as their floral emblem due to its spectacular abundance on the streets and in the gardens around our town. 1951 was the inauguration of the Australian National Floral Festival. Floral festivals were therefore a very common theme at the time.

The Festival traditionally features an official ceremony and crowning of The Lilac Queen, a street parade, shop front display competitions, markets, free musical entertainment, exhibitions, and a pet parade. Historically, other events included sporting and garden competitions and celebration balls.

This collection was donated to the Library by Lilac Committee representatives and consists of souvenir programmes, newspaper clippings, photos, meeting minutes, promotional material, and ephemera. Dates range from 1951 until 2013.

The Story of Lilac / by E. T. Cross

The story describes both the origins of the word, and the flower. Australians are “captured by the sweet perfume and glorious colours of the blossoms”.

In 1952, the idea of building a Lilac Time Hall was born from suggestions as to how funds raised from the Festival could be used for the community as a whole. The hall was officially opened in March 1959 and was extensively used by many local and visiting organisations. At the time, the hall was considered one of the finest for utility purposes, as well as being unique in architectural design. The hall has more recently been sold and become the Lilac Cinema.

Committee President, Mr. Laurie Jay

Mr. Laurence Swanston Jay was an advertising manager for Charles Rogers and Sons. He also used his promotional skills as a central figure in the early days of Lilac Time. He has been described as an ‘ideas man’ who also had the drive to make those ideas work.

During his time as committee president, and before that as a committee member, Mr. Jay, compiled detailed scrapbooks. His meticulous work covers the years 1952 – 1964, and includes pages of newspaper clippings, committee meeting minutes, photos, competition and publicity information, radio broadcast notes, and Lilac Time news lift outs. Ephemera such as ball tickets, awards, and pamphlets has also been included.

These beautiful scrapbooks were obviously a labour of love and are memorable snapshots of Lilac Time history. Be sure to allow plenty of time if planning a trip to browse these scrapbooks!

Box 3 of the collection contains information on the operation of the Festival over time, including the constitution and lists of Lilac Princesses and Queens, AGM minutes and secretary’s reports, and correspondence with Goulburn City Council. There is also a wonderful collection of historical ephemera including ball tickets, souvenir programs, and promotional material.

The Festival programs are a valuable research tool. They offer detailed information on each years’ Festival, including a daily program of events, advertisements, and Queen candidates. This information is enclosed in booklets which include beautiful photos of Goulburn and the surrounding district.

The Library actively and enthusiastically participated in the Festival for many years. For our hard work, we received many merit and honour Certificates, as well as pennants, for our support.

General contents also include a Lilac Time flag, and badge. These both, although undated, proudly display the Lilac Time Crest.

Access to the full collection is by appointment. These Archives compliment the Library’s existing Lilac Time collections including programs, photographs, and posters, which are accessible by searching the Library catalogue. For access to our photographic collection, contact the Library.