09/09/2026
If you haven’t been to Barellan Working Clydesdales "The Good Old Days" Weekend you seriously need to change that 😉
This is just the first day of a jam packed 3 day weekend with so much to see and take part in 🐴 🐴
📣 News alert! Here is the program for Friday,. October 2, 2026:
9am: Gates open, market stalls commence, chaff cutting and horse works with Steve Johnson, all day. See Rod Botfield making stock whips. See Brad Taylor, Australian Saddle Safaris, give a masterclass on pack horses and their equipment in the Codemo Arena. See the goat teams on the trotting track and a masterclass on goats in harness with Emily Parrott.
9.30am: Whip cracking demonstration by Australian Ladies Whip Cracking Champion Emiliqua East near the sheaf toss. Animal nursery until 10.30am.
10am: Yoking of the bullocks at the AGnVet Yard near the blacksmith forge with teamster Ron McKinnon. Traditional lettering, pin striping and scroll work with Ian Stewart-Koster at the Aussie Heavy Horses site of a Clydie Water Cart owned by Peter Lowry and Clare Gorwyn. Camel rides. Whip cracking lessons for the kids with Emiliqua East. Lachie Cossor and the Outback Stockman Show in the Codemo Arena.
10am: Matt Fitzgerald, Carnsdale Park Clydesdales, and his four-horse team in the ploughing area.
10.40am: Marshall for the Yapunyah Street parade.
11am: Parade travels down Yapunyah Street (main street). Community Bank Narrandera & District staff photo with the Barellan team upon return to the showground. Scones at the CWA Rest Rooms in the main street.
11.30am: Animal nursery until 1pm.
12pm Coffee and food vans. Doug Baum, Texas Camel Corps, USA, and Valeri Crenshaw, North American Camel Ranch Owners Association, Kansas, USA, talk on history and trekking with camels in the US at the AGnVET Yard (near the blacksmith forge).
12.30pm: Whip cracking demonstration with Australian Ladies Whip Cracking Champion Emiliqua East. Launch of the new Barellan Furphy Festival limited-edition cast-iron ends by David Irvin near the AKW Cattle Arena.
12.30pm: See two bullock teams abreast pulling a loaded wagon with bullocky Phil Thomson on the trotting track of main arena.
1pm: Clydie bar opens. Ron McKinnon gives a master class on training a pair of young lead bullocks on the trotting track. Bendigo and District Donkey and Mule club talk in the AKW Cattle Arena on packing, driving and riding. Whip cracking lessons for the kids with Australian Ladies Whip Cracking Champion Emiliqua East.
1.30pm: Riverina Light Horse display with songs and poems by Mick Batchelor and Glyn Shackleford on donkeys, dogs and pigeons of the Australian Light Horse. See the horsedrawn mower working in the crop. Jerilderie Tyre Service wagon wheel retyring demonstrations under the trees with Tim Peel, Phil Thomson and Eric Douglass.
2pm: Lachie Cossor Outback Stockman Show in the Codemo Arena. Masterclass on yoking the camel teams with Rodney Sansom in the AGnVET Yard next to the blacksmith forge. See blacksmith Curly shoe a bullock. Animal nursery to 4pm.
2.30pm: Whip cracking demonstration with Australian Ladies Whip Cracking Champion Emiliqua East.
2.45pm: Side saddle talk and demonstration with Vanessa Wells in the Codemo Arena. See the Barellan Special – a bullock, horse, camel, donkey and mule combination unique in the world, on the trotting track. Meet and greet with the teamster’s trackside.
3pm: Bendigo Bank Billy Boiling Championships at the shearing shed. Whip cracking workshop for the kids with Australian Ladies Whip Cracking Champion Emiliqua East. Learn to crack a whip or improve your skills.
4pm: Children’s races on the trotting track including Barellan Hobby Horse Cup and the Teamsters Dash, Jackaroo and Jillaroo sprints, and junior and senior tug-o-war competition. Doug Baum, Texas Camel Corps, USA, and Valeri Crenshaw, North American Camel Ranch Owners Association, Kansas, USA, talk on history and trekking with camels in the US at the AGnVET yard (near the blacksmith forge).
4.30pm: Judging of the damper competition at the stage – best damper made at your caravan site during the festival week.
5pm: BBQ and food vans. Judging of the Barellan best bush beard competition on the stage – moustache, partial beard, full beard, and creative/freestyle categories.
5.30pm: Book launch of “62 Horses, 62 Hearts” including Geoffrey Graham reciting “Barellan – a smashing day”. Auction of a copy signed by the teamsters by auctioneer Joey Reedy with funds to Barellan Working Clydesdales. Book launch of the biography, “Almost killed by a Potato” by Andrew Lavis and Kim Woods.
6pm-9pm: Lachie Cossor and the Minor Profits on the Commercial Hotel stage.
