Our History

Barellan has 328 residents and among those are some pretty motivated and determined people who have a “can do” attitude to getting things done.

Barellan Working Clydesdales started in 2010 – a year after the Barellan Centenary when a street parade of vintage farm machinery, horses and bullocks proved a hit with the 3000 visitors.

The momentum carried through to a local committee forming to hold a one-off educational, heritage event in 2010. The event was funded with $1000 donated by the Barellan War Memorial Club, a $2500 loan from the Barellan Progress Association and $700 from a street stall. A team of 17 draught horses harnessed to a wool wagon weighing 3.5 tonnes was a huge hit with the crowd. The event was slated for 2011 with the added attraction of Ron McKinnon and Phillip Thomson with a 12 bullock team, an important element of early farming practices.

By 2014, visitor numbers had blown out to over 5000 from all over Australia and the committee was drawing on over a dozen community and sporting organisations for assistance with staging the event. The committee wanted to keep the heritage farming theme throughout and engaged a blacksmith and whip maker, and in 2015, an old booth was relocated and renovated by volunteers for a new scone kitchen.

The horse team was increased to 26 horses in 2015 for the grand parade, setting an Australian record for the most horses to pull a wool wagon in the modern era.

Our camp oven dinners on Saturday night have grown from feeding 120 to 650 in 2019.

The inaugural Furphy Festival was held in 2018 with static displays of this Australian icon plus re-barrelling of Furphy water carts.

The combination of horse, bullock, camel, donkey and mule teams can only be seen in Barellan in this format and nowhere else in Australia.

The Good Old Days Festival is now regarded as one of the greatest showcase of harnessed animals in the world.