The Rodeo took out the Silver Award for best Festivals and Events and Isa Rodeo General Manager Natalie Flecker said it was a great honour for the event to be recognised on the national stage for the second consecutive year.

“We are very proud to represent Queensland in the Festivals and Events category, winning Gold at the 2016 awards and Silver in 2017,” Ms Flecker said.

“These awards recognise the pinnacle of tourism operators in the country and for our event, this is due to the valued contribution of many hundreds of people, not least our volunteers.”

Victoria’s Riverboat Music Festival was awarded the Gold in the Festivals and Events category and Tasmania’s The Unconformity awarded Bronze when the winners were announced across 25 categories at the awards presentation dinner at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Friday night, February 23.

Meanwhile Cobbold Gorge also took out a silver, with the Forsayth tourist business coming second in the hosted accommodation category.

The awards draw together more than 800 tourism business representatives from across the country along with Federal and State Tourism Ministers, CEOs of State and Regional tourism bodies and tourism industry leaders.

Ms Flecker paid tribute to the support of the rodeo’s naming sponsor, Mount Isa Mines and other valued sponsors and the local community, Rotary, the Board and hundreds of volunteers.

The 2018 Diamond Jubilee 60 th Anniversary Rodeo will be held from August 9 to 12, with preparations already well underway, including the Rodeo Queen Quest whose entrants have raised millions of dollars for local charities as diverse as the Royal Flying Doctor’s Service, the Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC), North Queensland Rescue Helicopter Service, the Laura Johnson Home and BUSHkids community health organisation.