WITHOUT Margie Murphy, one of the Whitsundays' biggest events just wouldn't be the same and New Year's Eve fireworks wouldn't light up the Airlie Beach night sky.

For the past six years, the 46-year-old mother of two has given tirelessly in her role as committee member and now chairwoman of the Whitsunday Reef Festival committee.

Last week she was rewarded for that effort with the Whitsunday Business Women's Airlie Beach community champion award.

Nominated by friend and fellow Reef Festival committee member Lisa Stockow, Ms Murphy described herself as "pretty overwhelmed" by the accolade.

"I felt proud but I was surprised to win because there are a lot of women - and it is mostly women - who do community work," she said.

Originally from Sydney, Margie Murphy and her husband, Tim, arrived in Airlie Beach in 1998 in a campervan.

"People had said 'you'll love it' and they were right," she said.

When Ms Murphy fell pregnant with the couple's first child, Mia, they moved out of the campervan and haven't looked back.

Less than three years later, their second daughter Alana was born and it was then Ms Murphy began to take on community work, first through the kindergarten events committee and then co-ordinating local netball.

Ms Murphy joined the Whitsunday Reef Festival committee about six years ago as secretary and soon found herself the event spokeswoman, becoming chairwoman in 2012.

Through the years, she has worked hard to grow the festival, describing her greatest achievements as securing more sponsorship, creating new events, overcoming the red tape involved in closing Airlie Beach main street, and bringing top-class acts such as Tim-O-Matic and Gautier to Airlie Beach.

"It's always a juggle of what you can afford to what you can put on," she said.

"But having a business background (through the family business TM Murphy Constructions) helps."

Going forward, it is still Ms Murphy's aim to keep making the festival bigger and better than ever before, with a Tourism and Events Queensland grant secured for 2016 and plans for "street eats" to be added, along with an art installation on the theme of reef to shore.

As for why she does it all: "It's working with the amazing people and making lifelong friendships with like-minded women (also on the committee)," she said. "Obviously it's a lot of satisfaction and with the team of predominantly women we have at the moment, it's amazing what we can achieve."