Old Bar Beach Festival - 2006 Sculpture Grant History

Old Bar Beach Festival was successful in gaining a grant from Festivals Australia for an artist in residence project. This project was done by Ted Prior, a local artist from the Manning Valley.

The theme was the 75th Anniversary of the gazetting of the Old Bar Beach air strip. The airfield, first gazetted in 1931, was a safe landing for all land aircraft and was an important refueling stop and passenger pick up. During World War II the airfield was designated an emergency RAAF landing place, a Wackett Gannet aircraft and personnel were based here. Volunteers, on occasion, laid a beacon path along the beach to guide aircraft being ferried north to participate in Australia's Pacific war effort.

Many of Australia's famous aviation pioneers have used the Old Bar airfield.

This sculpture, which represents a combination of a plane, people and lanterns, was unveiled by pioneer aviator Nancy Bird Walton and Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile, on Saturday 30th September 2006, commemorates the local Volunteer Defense Corps operating during World War II.