Mostly life on the Sunshine Coast is quiet, and tranquil – in fact I’ve quoted the Castle’s iconic “How’s the serenity?” so many times that it now elicits a pained groan from my lovely wife every time it escapes my lips. That being said, we still enjoy a good amount of high octane, adrenaline pumping, gasoline and testosterone fuelled mayhem every now and then.

This May 27th; SEA FM presents the Festival of Fire.

Caloundra will soon be quaking from the vibrations of some of the biggest and baddest of the Monster truck world, with a number of trick events on offer on the night to give you your fix of insane wheelies and mind-breaking freestyle trick performances. It doesn’t stop there.

In addition to the USA style monster truck freestyle event, featuring jumps, car crushing, trickduels, sky wheelies and an Australian record attempt at jumping 13 cars end to end, there will also be a demolition derby (entries are still open!), fireworks displays, freestyle motor-cross competitions and so much more. Did I mention the ‘Jet Wars’ event? This is quite literally the most masculine thing I can imagine. Cars fitted with literal jet engines will use their twenty thousand pounds of thrust to (Imagine nine-thousand kilograms pressing down on you, only those nine-thousand kilograms are pure fiery pain, usually used to help propel an aircraft through the sound barrier) melt vans and other expendable vehicles to the ground. If you don’t think that sounds awesome then we probably can’t be friends.

It really wouldn’t be a ‘Festival of Fire’ with just a few jet engines, so here are some more kinds of fire and explosions. In addition to the normal fireworks displays and pyrotechnics we expect from monster-truck events, the night will also play host to a competition between nations. The fireworks war will be between the incredible explosive inventions of the originators of the craft – China, and new players on the field of sky-bound awe – Australia! That’s right, our boys are going to strut their stuff in the night sky against the masters, and we all get to play the role of judge and enjoy the pretty colours.

This family event is fantastic for the whole family. In addition to the mayhem there’s also truck rides, face painting, food and for Mum and Dad a little tipple or two in the drinking areas if they need a little break. Tickets for kids under 3 are free, with kids under 11 paying $20, $25 for 12-15 year olds, and adult tickets costing $35 – or buy a family pass for 2 adults and 2 kids (3-11) for $95. A family night out for less than $100 is hard to beat if you ask me.

For more information on the evening itself or any of its events, visit the kcsfireworks website.