Boots’n Bulldust Festival has its serious side

When something needs doing in the bush, the locals usually get together, knuckle down and get it done. Out of this help-your-mate attitude, the Country Focus Boots’n Bulldust Festival was born.

Kicking off on Saturday 12th June this year the festival will include a great line-up of events, entertainment and competitions starting with the South Burnett Championship Ute Muster and followed by our very own Billy Cart Muster and races.
For the dog lovers, there are the two Ute Jumping Dogs competitions – one for small dogs and one for the larger working dogs. You’ll be amazed at how high these dogs can jump!

The ever-popular Post Ripping Competition will see young country lads wielding chainsaws to create the fastest and neatest post rip. They take a log and split it into a number of posts used for fencing. The posts will then be auctioned off with funds going to support the festival cause – rural depression.

The Rural Iron Man/Woman competition will certainly sort out the wheat from the chaff over a grueling course of tasks which will be revealed on the day. They will be things that most farmers would tackle at some time in their working day – not necessarily all at once like they will in this competition, though.

Then, for a bit of light-hearted fun, we will be featuring the Wife Carrying Races. For those who don’t have a wife, just grab a sister, ya mum, the neighbour or anyone who’ll let you lift them and run over a distance of 50 metres. Husbands don’t miss out either – the missus can carry you if she’s the fit one!

Whilst all of this is going on there is a continuous line-up of young country music starsin- the-making on stage. Arthur Nettlefield will perform from 1pm and open the APRA Championship Rodeo at 3pm with his own song (also the theme song of the Boots’n Bulldust Festival). This is a full rodeo with horse events, broncs and bulls, not to mention the cowboys trying to best them. If last year’s rodeo was anything to go by, we are in for a real feast of rodeo talent and explosive fun!

Following the rodeo a concert will go well into the night, with the very talented Left of Center performing.

This festival was born out of a desire to showcase the wonderful lifestyle and opportunities in the South Burnett but it was also tempered with the need to support those in the local community who are suffering from the effects of depression. This shire regrettably experiences a high rate of suicide amongst its farming community and the flow-on effect and loss to families and community from this is staggering.

With the effects of drought conditions still being felt and now the economic downturn the situation will be felt even harder. Mental health services across rural Australia are stretched and we are facing the real possibility of many support services being closed because of lack of funds.

So we decided to do it for ourselves! We figured if we could get a bunch of people together to have a great time, we could also raise some much needed capital to help these people out. This is what the country spirit is all about – helping your mates and neighbours when they need it most.

We intend to grow this festival over the years so that it will become one of the premier events on the calendar.

So, if you enjoy the country, get out to Nanango on 12th June and experience a really full day of old fashioned country fun including: the South Burnett Championship Ute Muster, Billy Cart Muster & races, Country Fair, Rodeo, Bush Iron Man Event, Ute Jumping Dogs, Wife Carrying Races, Mechanical Bull, rides and anything else we can think of to put a smile on your face.

For more information contact Sandy on 4163 2266, 0423 830 224 or sandy@countryfocus.com.au.

Read More on Rural people & the effects of depression here.