While recent years have seen the festival grow in popularity, association president Bill Anderson believes a ‘refresh’ for the event, alongside a “more involved and ‘hands on deck’ attitude from the committee” will see the event return “bigger and better than ever”.

“There were a number of reasons we decide to have a year off for the festival, not least because of the committee changes,” Mr Anderson revealed. “We also want to take the time to have a look at things like food-offerings and regular entertainment, and potentially offer new choices and draw-cards for the festival.”

The Rathmines Catalina Festival, ran by the association in recent years with the assistance of an event organiser, will also move from the months of summer heat to May’s cooler temperatures, a move that Mr Anderson revealed came after “lots of feedback”.

“We had a lot of people telling us they were bringing their parents or grandparents out to the event because they were really interested, but then having to leave because of sweltering heat conditions,” he said.

“The committee, and everyone that organises the event, wants to make sure there’s nothing stopping people from ‘making a day of it’ and spending the whole day enjoying the food options, entertainment and the festival’s main draw cards – the flying boats.”

Mr Anderson also said the committee, and organisers, were going to take the year off to look back at what people have already enjoyed about the festival, with the refresh not going to completely change the event.

“We’ve had a lot of fantastic people involved over the years that have become integral to the festival,” he said. “The committee wants to thank everyone that has provided entertainment, as well as the local council for making sure we can continue to use the space in 2019 and beyond.”

While changes will be coming on the horizon, Mr Anderson said, it will still be the same festival locals know and love.

“We can’t wait to see you all back for 2019,” he said. “There’s going to be so much we have to offer.”