Country musicians performing at the Camooweal Drovers Festival this weekend include Peter Coad and the Coad Sisters, Jeff Brown, Bruce Lavender, Tom Maxwell, and Runaway Dixie. 

Drovers Camp president Tony Anderson said the museum now had fibreglass horses. It meant the festival had a new display this year, featuring the types of packs that drovers have used over time. 

The Mardi Gras begins at 5.30pm on Friday night. “After the Mardi Gras we have got the mail race. “We have teams of four that go to the local post office and pick up the mail, go to the pub and have a couple of beers, and go to the general store and pick up supplies and go to the end of it,” Mr Anderson said. The winning team won $500 for their chosen charity. 

“The winning team receives a $500 cheque which goes to a charity of their choice.” 

The festival averages from 500 to 1000 people. Yet this tourist season there had been a 20 per cent increase in grey nomads, which could be an indicator of increased attendees at the festival. 

“Every year it gets bigger,” Mr Anderson said. 

The drovers festival was important to Camooweal’s economy. This was in part due to the festival having the policy of not buying outside of the town for its supplies. “We encourage the tourists to support the locals as well,” he said. 

“It boosts the economy of a little border town of 320 people, so it’s highly important to Camooweal itself.”