Building community after the 2022 floods

Beehive Events hosts events in Gympie every month, but before that, it all started when founder Mandy Irvine was helping the community recover from the floods that swept through our town in 2022.

Mandy Irvine (right).

Mandy was part of a small group of local volunteers collecting and distributing donations to flood-affected residents, their garages quickly filling with supplies. 

“Donations came hard and fast,” she says. “It filled our garages, then our lounge rooms. There were bags and bags of clothes and essential items everywhere.” 

Eventually, community hubs were established where people could come in and take what they needed. For almost three months, Mandy helped manage the Crescent Road Flood Hub, sorting donations, organising supplies and supporting the community as it slowly started to rebuild. 

“It blew me away seeing complete strangers come together and look after each other. The people I met were just beautiful. It taught me to never judge a book by its cover.”

As recovery continued, a conversation between Mandy and a few others led to the idea of a small night market, initially designed to support stallholders whose regular markets had been disrupted. 

“It was about bringing people together again. We’d come through Covid and then the floods. People needed connection, they needed that mental health uplift.”

What started with just 15 stalls soon gained momentum. Within a year, the market had grown to around 45 stallholders and moved to a larger venue. Today, Mandy continues to organise the markets under Beehive Events, a business still focused on that same idea of connection. 

“It was never about the money. It's about giving people a platform. Some stallholders won't do any other market. That means a lot to me. The hugs, the feedback, the happiness you see… that’s what keeps me going. It’s about creating a space where people feel supported,” shares Mandy. “We have such a beautiful community. There are so many talented people here and I think Gympie deserves to be seen for what it is.”