The seasons in Celtic Country - Glen Innes and surrounding district, in the heart of rural Australia - are distinctive and there's no better time to visit than in our breathtaking spring.

There's an added reason: the Land of the Beardies Festival, is a special time for families, when we celebrate our rich, local history. It's a festival that has grown in stature and is featuring a mixture of Country and Western Music combined with Country Rock , Gospel and Features songs from yesteryear. this years Festival highlights  Local talent that our community has to offer as well as providing an avenue for local Talent to show their skills in Entertainment.

Only 2-4 hours from the coast or 4 hours South of Brisbane, the Land of the Beardies Festival in Glen Innes will provide you with a fun-packed program to suit families and all interests. Best of all most activities are FREE!

Highlights:

• FREE Fireworks Display
• Beard-growing competition – prizes to be won
  Download 2010 Application Form(.pdf 121Kb)
• Market stalls and amusement rides
• Visit The Celtic Cruisers Web site
• Pistol Club Shoot - download info (.pdf 22Kb)

Celtic Country’s Attractions

The festival is your chance to enjoy a fun-packed program and to experience Celtic Country's unique attractions:

The Australian Standing Stones, unique in the southern hemisphere and national monument to Australia's Celtic pioneers, World Heritage national parks, Land of the Beardies History House, one of Australia's finest folk museums, tranquil rural villages of Deepwater and Emmaville, fossicking, fishing…

It's an opportunity, too, to sample our great food - a district noted for its prime beef and lamb - and New England distinctive wines.

So who were the Beardies?

The District is known as the Land of the Beardies – but just who were the Beardies?
The most widely held view – but not the only one – was that the term referred to two stockman , John Duval and Chandler (first name unknown) who guided the earliest European settlers to the district.

According to RB Walker’s “Old New England” the two men were much in demand and were paid five pounds a trip’ for their excellent services”.

Duval a 28 year old farmer from Staffordshire, had been sentenced to death in 1825 for breaking and entering a house and stealing some clothes but his penalty had been commuted to life in imprisonment in the colony.

In 1834 he had received a ticket – of – leave and was working on Captain Henry Dumaresq’s Station Tillbuster near Armidale which included the mountain that now bears his name. Dumaresq’s brother in Law Sir Ralph Darling was governor of the colony at the time. While there is no evidence that the two men themselves ventured much further north of what is now Glencoe, Duval and his boss Joseph Daley, had established Marowan (near Glencoe) as an outstation of Tillbuster.

There is much less known of Chandler who was assigned to Peter McIntyre. Chandler was  based at Ruengurer  or “ Guira” Station about 12km northwest of what is now Guyra township and developed an extensive knowledge of the east.

According to history volume written by William Gardner between 1842 and 1854 the situation of these men being isolated and seldom at that time in the company of white men , caused them to be regardless in the use of the razor, consequently they in the course of time wore long beards, the early settlers of this part of the country were recommended to apply to the Beardies, to select suitable runs either for sheep farming or cattle grazing hence arose the name.

Edited by Tim Hughes  

Contact the Land of the Beardies Festival:

Neville Campbell :Telephone: (02) 6732 2663
E-mail: nevillecampbell51@bigpond.com

Mobile Phone Number 0403409880

You can also telephone the Glen Innes Visitor Information Centre on (02) 6730 2400
Fax: (02) 6732 6090

If you did not arrive at this site from the Glen Innes Visitor Information Centre site, please visit there to discover all that Glen Innes and district has to offer.