If you’re tempted to strike it rich or are stirred by all things Celtic, then Glen Innes, in the New England Tablelands of northern New South Wales, is the place for you this autumn. Known as Celtic Country, Glen Innes is part of NSW’s most prolific sapphire region, including the prized royal blue, and is claimed to have the world’s richest mineral diversity belt.
So it’s hardly surprising that Minerama fossicking and gem show (www.minerama.com.au), NSW’s biggest, will again attract commercial traders and tailgaters from a wide area on March 12-14. They display gems, jewellery, minerals, fossils, lapidary supplies and other items in the Services Club while tailgaters overflow in a carnival atmosphere to an adjoining park.
Entry - and the festival’s evening entertainment - is free and there’s a series of guided field trips to almost a dozen locations. Fossickers travel in self-drive convoys for the trips costing $11 an adult, $4 for children to 16 (children under five free). Features include ‘salt and pepper’ trips to mystery sites where the wash is ‘enhanced’ to provide a rewarding experience for beginners. Fossickers list their finds on a ‘brag board’- valuable examples were highlighted last year - with cash prize draws as well as raffles and lucky door prizes offering some $1000 in fuel.
The Australian Celtic Festival (www.australiancelticfestival.com), on April 29-May 2, is centred at the Australian Standing Stones, a man-made array of granite monoliths unique in the southern hemisphere and national monument to Australia’s Celtic pioneers. The festival attracts clans, national groups, dancers, artists and spectators from across Australia and overseas for four days of colour, spectacle, massed pipebands, song, dance - and all things Celtic.
This year’s festival will honour the Isle of Man, in line with the tradition of singling out a Celtic nation each year, and there will be a special focus on the island’s 102 year old, 60.75km Tourist Trophy, described as ‘the most awesome between-the-hedges [motorcycle] racing on earth.’ A Tourist Trophy-style motorcycle, mounted on a truck, will be included in the Saturday street parade with a display and screenings about the race at the Australian Standing Stones.
A Viking ‘living village’ will also be re-created at the Standing Stones with craftspeople, minstrels and artisans interacting with the public. Celtic workshops, with an emphasis on the Manx, will be held throughout the festival. The story of the Jacobite rebellion, told in narrative and song by Melbourne-based duo Braemar will be among other innovations.
A jam session will be part of the varied entertainment at pubs and clubs which join in the festivities with their own programs and special menus, complementing concerts and other ticketed events at venues such as the Town Hall and Services Club.
The skirl of pipes in the autumn mists at dawn at the Australian Standing Stones on Saturday, May 1, will herald two days of non-stop entertainment including jousting, song, dance, massed pipebands, Strongman events, kilted dash, fun run and walk, kirking and parade of the tartans, Celtic nation flag raising ceremonies, yard dog trial championships and Celtic foods. As in the past, tourism officials expect many visitors to stay over in Glen Innes following the festivals, given the distinctive climate and unique attractions.
As well as the Australian Standing Stones, they include one of the nation’s finest folk museums, Land of the Beardies History House, Emmaville Mining Museum, reflecting the village’s colourful past as a 19th century tin mining boom town, and World Heritage national parks of Gibraltar Range and Washpool with a network of other national parks and nature reserves. More information: Glen Innes Visitor Information Centre, phone (02) 6730 2400,