The Good Old Days Festival: Australia’s Living Celebration of Pioneer Heritage
A team of 62 Horses pulling a wagon at the Good Old Days Festival (source: Facebook )
In the small Riverina town of Barellan, New South Wales, one of Australia’s most unique and authentic bush heritage festivals comes to life each year.
The Good Old Days Festival is more than a country event — it is a living tribute to the working animals, farming traditions, and pioneer spirit that helped build rural Australia. From massive Clydesdale teams and bullock wagons to camp oven dinners and Furphy displays (horse drawn water cart), the festival offers visitors a rare opportunity to step back into the rhythms and traditions of Australia’s agricultural past.
Where Is The Good Old Days Festival Held?
The festival is held in the rural town of Barellan in the Riverina region of New South Wales.
Barellan may be a small country town, but every October long weekend it transforms into one of the nation’s biggest celebrations of working draught animals and pioneer heritage. The event takes place at the Barellan Showgrounds and attracts visitors, exhibitors, horse teams, and heritage enthusiasts from across Australia.
When Is The Good Old Days Festival 2026?
The next Good Old Days Festival is scheduled for:
October 2–4, 2026
The festival is held annually over the NSW October long weekend and continues to grow each year in both size and national recognition.
A wool Wagon at the Good Old Days Festival (Source: Facebook )
What Makes The Good Old Days Festival So Unique?
The Good Old Days Festival is regarded as one of the greatest showcases of harnessed working animals in Australia — and possibly the world.
What sets it apart is its focus on authentic pioneer-era farming and transport methods. Rather than simply displaying heritage equipment, the festival actively demonstrates how working animals and traditional skills were once used in everyday rural life.
Visitors can experience:
Working Clydesdale horse teams
Bullock teams
Camel teams
Donkeys and mule teams
Traditional ploughing demonstrations
Wool wagon displays
Vintage farming machinery
Blacksmithing
Rope making
Camp oven cooking
Bush poetry and music
It is one of the few places in Australia where all these traditions come together in one immersive festival atmosphere.
The Famous Clydesdale Teams
One of the biggest drawcards of the festival is the extraordinary display of heavy horse teams.
The Barellan Working Clydesdales group has become nationally known for harnessing enormous teams of horses to traditional wool wagons. In 2015, the festival set an Australian Record with 26 horses pulling a wool wagon in the modern era.
More recently, the festival gained international attention after assembling a record-breaking team of 62 heavy horses harnessed to a laden Bennett wool wagon during the 2025 event. The massive display drew crowds of more than 10,000 visitors and became one of the largest horse team spectacles seen in modern times.
These demonstrations are not just visual spectacles — they preserve the skills, teamwork, and horsemanship once essential to Australian farming life.
Horses, Camels, Donkeys and Bullocks pulling a hay wagon at the Good Old Days Bush Festival (source: Facebook )
Celebrating Australia’s Pioneer Farming Heritage
At its heart, The Good Old Days Festival is about preserving knowledge that could otherwise disappear.
Early farming methods showcased throughout the festival include:
Horse-drawn ploughing
Bullock teams hauling loads
Vintage binders and headers
Mallee rollers
Chaff cutting
Blade shearing
Butter churning
Cow milking demonstrations
The event provides younger generations with a rare chance to witness how Australian farming communities once worked before modern machinery transformed rural life.
The Furphy Festival
One of the festival’s most distinctive attractions is the Furphy Festival.
The Furphy water cart is one of Australia’s most iconic rural inventions and became famous across the country through military camps and farming communities. At Barellan, visitors can see:
Furphy displays
Re-barrelling demonstrations
Historical collections
Furphy trains
The Furphy Festival has become an important part of preserving Australia’s rural storytelling traditions and agricultural history.
Camp Cooking at The Good Old Days Bush Festival (source: Facebook )
Bush Entertainment & Family Attractions
The Good Old Days Festival offers much more than farming demonstrations.
Across the weekend visitors can enjoy:
Live country music
Bush poetry
Camp oven dinners under the stars
Market stalls
Whipcracking
Camel races and rides
Working dog demonstrations
Animal nurseries
Sheaf tossing
Bush breakfasts
Wood-fired scones
A tribute to the Australian Light Horse
The atmosphere is deeply community-oriented and family friendly, with many visitors camping onsite for the full weekend experience.
A Volunteer-Driven Community Event
One of the most remarkable aspects of the festival is that it is entirely volunteer-run.
The event began after Barellan’s centenary celebrations inspired locals to preserve and showcase their heritage through a dedicated community festival. Since its beginnings in 2010, the festival has grown from a small local gathering into a nationally recognised rural heritage event attracting thousands of visitors each year.
Importantly, the festival is not-for-profit, with funds contributing back into the regional community and local infrastructure.
Carrying the Australian Flag on horseback (Source: Facebook)
Why The Good Old Days Festival Matters
In a rapidly modernising world, festivals like this play an important role in preserving Australia’s rural identity.
The Good Old Days Festival keeps alive:
Traditional horsemanship
Working animal knowledge
Bush craftsmanship
Farming history
Community storytelling
Pioneer resilience
It also reminds visitors that Australia’s rural history was built not only by machinery and industry, but by horses, bullocks, camels, dogs, and the people who worked alongside them.
Planning Your Visit
The Good Old Days Festival is held annually at the Barellan Showgrounds during the October long weekend.
Visitors can typically purchase:
Admission tickets
Camping passes
Camp oven dinner tickets
Glamping packages
Because the festival continues to grow rapidly in popularity, early bookings are highly recommended.
You can learn more and plan your visit via the official festival website:
The Good Old Days Festival Official Website
Final Thoughts
The Good Old Days Festival is one of Australia’s most authentic celebrations of pioneer life and rural heritage.
It is not simply a nostalgic event — it is a living, working preservation of the traditions, animals, and skills that shaped country Australia.
For anyone passionate about bush culture, heavy horses, farming history, or rural community life, Barellan’s Good Old Days Festival offers an experience unlike anywhere else in the country.
