Bulimba | Love Trivia? This Event is For You!

Author Shannon Edwards // Place Bulimba

This Saturday marks the annual Bulimba Trivia Evening – ‘a flamboyant display of costumes, decorations and dancing’.

This year, organisers ‘welcome you to the future’ and invite the local community to engage in a night of fun, laughter and a little bit of friendly competition.

Show off how clever you really are through the trivia quiz. Don’t worry, if trivia isn’t your thing, go all out and enter in the best dressed costume prize.

“At trivia night there’s no such thing as ‘too much’. We love over the top, crazy costumes,” says event organiser, Hayley Devlin.

We speak with Hayley to get the ‘411’ on this year’s trivia event.

How did you become involved with the Bulimba State School Trivia Event?

Back in 2014 a friend of mine, who was Vice President of the P&C at the time, asked me if I'd like to run the trivia night.

I’m a wedding planner so I have plenty of event experience and enjoy planning events of all scales.

This is my fourth year as the trivia night organiser and it just seems to get bigger and better every year.

What is the event all about?

Trivia night is our annual fundraiser that’s a highlight on the social calendar for many of the school parents.

It's an “adult only” event for the parents to relax and enjoy themselves.

The night is about having fun rather than the tough competition that can come with trivia.

Fancy dress is a huge part of the night and I'm always amazed at the effort people put in. I choose a different theme each year to keep it fresh and fun.

People have a tendency to go all out for this event and I'd say the competition for the best dressed group and best table decorations are equally as fierce as the trivia itself.

We've seen everything from a life-sized Tardis to a wooden Viking ship that one of the parents built. People spend days, even weeks creating their table deviations and costumes and they’re really quite impressive.

What can we expect for this year’s event?

Bulimba State School celebrated its 150th birthday last year, so this year it has been all about looking back through history.

In contrast, the focus for 2017 is looking ahead and the theme for trivia night is "Welcome to the future.”

For the trivia night we have posed the question, ‘what do you think the future will look like?’

I'm expecting to see robots, aliens, spaceships and maybe even some avatars!

It's totally open to interpretation and it's just as likely we'll see people come dressed as themselves - in 30 years’ time!

Tell us a little bit about this year’s auction?

The online auction is a fabulous fundraiser that’s very well received by parents and the local community. Last year we had over 6,500 page views!

Each year, I approach local businesses and ask them to donate items we can auction off.

The businesses get exposure which increases brand familiarity with the school community. The bidders get a bargain and we raise money for the P&C - everyone wins.

The auction is also lots of fun on the actual night. People receive text notifications when they have been outbid and it's quite funny to see them furiously bidding on the items they want!

The auction is open to everyone, not just those who attend the event.

It's a great way to promote brand loyalty because, as a community, I feel we love to support the businesses that support our school!

To donate an item or to bid for a prize, click HERE.

This year’s sponsor for the Auction is Shannon Harvey from Place Bulimba. Shannon, what does it mean to you to sponsor the event?

I went to Bulimba State School so the school is very dear to me.

I have been a local resident here for my entire life and I like to do whatever I can to support the community.

Many years ago, I was given the support I needed to achieve my dreams, which all started at Bulimba State School, so I like to give back where I can.

I thought the event itself was a unique idea and supporting the auction is quite relevant to my career as an agent.

Sponsoring is also a fantastic way to meet people and get to know more people around the local community.

Bulimba has such a strong community feel to it and it’s a special feeling walking down the street when you’re able to say hello to the people who walk by.