Off to the races

A rural community embraces its diversity with a festival celebrating culture…and camels.

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY MANDY MCKEESICK

CLOSE YOUR EYES for a moment and listen. There’s the hum of a didgeridoo, splutter of a chainsaw, acoustic twang of Creedence Clearwater Revival and the shrill call of a bagpipe. “They’re quick out of the barriers today,” a race-caller spruiks, and then there’s a low animal sound you can’t quite place. Now take note of the smells – definitely something animal, motorbike fumes, spicy curry, freshly baked bread. Confused? Now open your eyes. You’re face to face with a woolly-headed camel as it gurgles and groans, a race-caller is chasing yabbies, someone is performing a haka and two mad motorcyclists are preparing to enter a steel-meshed Globe of Death. You’ve found yourself at the Tara Festival of Culture and Camel Races. It’s hard to arrive at one word to encapsulate this festival,…

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Australian Geographic (Digital) - 1 Issue, July/August 2019

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