Some 16,000 kilometres away from the Paris Olympics, records were broken in the tiny town of Tara in Queensland’s Western Downs over the weekend, hosting its biggest-ever event on record.
Camel racing teams from as far as Newcastle, Gympie and Boulia put on a thrilling display of racing action in front of record crowds of more than 15,000 happy campers and racing enthusiasts at the Tara Festival of Culture, Camels and Camping.
The weekend was a clean sweep for Newcastle camel ‘Barry’ of Oakfield Ranch claiming victory with jockey ‘Beaver Brophy’ across the Saturday 400m and Sunday 600m Cup Final sprints.
Oakfield Ranch proved to be a powerhouse team in the 600m distance, winning five of the seven races, earning Rodney Sansom the awards for best Owner and Trainer of the weekend. While their own Tegan Beck was awarded ‘Jockey of the Weekend’ riding ‘Thirsty’ to win the 400m and 600m Consolation Finals.
Gympie Camel trainer, John Richardson who is popularly known as ‘The Camel Man’ exclaimed, “It’s a different sport to what most are normally used to watching. The main attraction is that the camels don’t all go off racing in one direction! It’s a let your hair down weekend, and always a fun event to be apart of.”
Son and Australian Idol finalist Trent Richardson continued, “You don’t go many places where there is camel racing. There should be more of them and that’s why thousands came through the gates this weekend.”
Race Caller Neale Stuart added, “They don’t necessarily run down the track…they can run backwards or sit down halfway around the track. I reckon the bigger the eyes, the longer the eyelashes, the bigger the lips… the more chance they have of coming over the finish line first. It’s unpredictable and entertaining for all.”
New to the camel racing circuit are jockeys Lauren and Lili Christian from Byron Bay. What started as a birthday trip to Noosa to take their mum on a camel ride, has turned into an adventure of a lifetime for the twins.
“You say adventure and we jump. We gave it a try and once we got on, we were hooked! It’s the not knowing of what’s coming. There’s no way of steering them. Just hold on and don’t let go!” said the twins.
Camels weren’t the only ones on the starting line over the weekend. After each camel race, Tara’s best and freshest yabbies crawled over 1,200mm fighting for gold.
“It’s only money!” the crowd of punters with deep pockets hollered from the grandstands as hot favourite ‘Dangerous Doug’, was sold for a whopping $1,050 to a Redcliffe resident in the final Calcutta auction for the weekend. It was ‘Big Bad Brent’ that clawed to the finish line first with a Western Downs local family taking home more than $3,600 in cold hard cash winnings.
Beyond the racetracks, the region celebrated its diversity with an electric mix of performances from Bollywood dancers, Latin drummers, to crowd favorites Celtic rock band Murphy’s Pigs.
While the cultures of the world took over the town, its country roots shone through with festival goers kicking up their heels with a performance from Australian Idol finalist Trent Richardson, before partying into the night with duo Zac & George and headline country music royalty Lee Kernaghan.
In a first-ever for the biennial festival known as ‘Australia’s Biggest Camel Party’, tickets were sold out swelling the town’s population by more than 7-fold.
Official numbers are yet to be determined for the weekend but organisers reported a good portion of the event growth has been driven by large groups congregating at the festival and camping as large families or organized social clubs. Camping sold out in a record five weeks out from the event with 2,100 campsites booked, seeing many spill over into neighbouring towns.
Toni Rolles, Tara Festival Secretary said, “We’re so humbled and proud to see over 15,000 through the gates this weekend.
“We’ve had some tough times here in Tara, but it’s all about having fun, moving on and having a good time, and that’s what this festival does.
“We can’t believe the numbers we had considering the challenges some other festivals in Australia have faced this year.
“It’s testament to our committee of local and passionate volunteers who continue each festival to set the bar higher which is why we’ve seen travellers from across Australia come back year after year and spread the good word.
“It’s the biggest tourism week for Tara every two years and it’s just something we all really look forward to. We spend months and months of planning, giving our time and it’s all worthwhile to host this event that means so much to our community.”
The Tara Festival of Culture and Camel Races is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland.
WHERE IS TARA?
Tara is located just three and a half hours west of Brisbane and two hours west of Toowoomba.
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RACE RESULTS
Click here for all camel racing results.
MEDIA SUPPORT & INTERVIEW REQUESTS
Festival Marketing & PR Coordinator
Sally Bird
M 0488 273 353
E sally@kristahauritz.com.au