Nambour is the new West End

By Joanna JonesThings have been happening in Nambour. If you haven’t been out in Nambour at night lately...you are truly missing out. The town has slowly but surely been reinventing itself for a few years now and the difference is starting to get noticed – and not just by locals.From the success of Queen Street with its boutique shopping and the ever popular Husk and Honey attracting patrons from all over the Sunshine Coast, through to the pop-up shops in Howard Street, including some great vintage and retro stores and the amazing Asylum store in Currie Street; the face of the town is changing and evolving.What’s really been a game changer has been the opening of two licensed venues – cocktail and piano lounge The Bison Bar in Centenary Square (now rebranded as C-Square), and the funky Nook and Cranny in Currie Street serving delicious pizzas, coffee and alcoholic beverages.  You can relax in the Bison Bar over a Long Island Iced Tea and listen to your favourite artist on vinyl, reminiscing about those days before CDs and digitalisation, or you can enjoy the DJ or live music at the Nook and Cranny long into the night. Both venues have live music on occasions and both are open until late. When asked about his decision to open the Nook and Cranny in Nambour with his business partner, co-owner Cameron Scott said, “Nambour is our hometown. Growing up we couldn’t wait to get away, but family kept us coming back. One day we were both back and we realised that Nambour had changed and is continuously changing. We wanted to be a part of that and being young we didn’t want to wait for that to happen; most importantly we wanted to make a change ourselves.”Cameron said he has been overwhelmed by the positive response from the local community, “We have a very diverse demographic. It really is everyone. We have the 18-year-old through to the 70-year-olds, and we love that. Something really exciting to us is that the people that frequent our bar are locals but they are people that don’t normally shop in Nambour.“We know that local people are coming in, dining and drinking instead of going to Maroochydore and that’s great for the town. More exciting is the secondary benefits our little bar is having on the town. Our patrons that don’t normally come into town are now shopping in town. They are buying clothes for the night out, and catching taxis to get home, among many other things.”To celebrate the reawakening of Nambour as a cultural and entertainment destination, and capitalise on the growing momentum, there is an exciting event “A Taste of C-Square” planned in the Centenary Square Courtyard in Currie Street on Saturday, March 7 from 5pm until late. The event will feature live music, art workshops and galleries, vintage store, coffee cart and multi-cultural food including Japanese, Mexican and Hangi.  Talented local artist James Muller will be wowing the crowds with his spectacular Projection Art.Times they are a changing indeed, and it couldn’t have come soon enough.