Yowah Opal Festival

Festival Location: Yowah, QLD, Australia

Festival Type(s): Local Festivals , Collectors Conventions

Yowah Opal Festival

by © John Dodson 2008

So you've run with the bulls in Spain, carnivaled in Rio de Janeiro, tried out for the Nude Olympics but you are still looking for the ultimate festival, well look no further. Be in Yowah, Queensland in July for the next Yowah Opal festival.

It might not have the mix of sheer excitement and bowel clenching terror that being chased by a herd of mad bulls induces, it might not have the glamour of Carnival in Rio and it may lack the exposure of the Nude Olympics, but nobody can deny, it is unique.

Before titillating your senses with the program of speciality events, I will attempt to describe where Yowah is. Perhaps it is easier to tell you where it is not. It is not near Sydney where the Opera House and Coat Hanger Bridge preside. It is not near the Great Barrier Reef where tourists get left while scuba-diving. It is certainly not near the snowfields of Kosciusko, Australia's highest mountain.

If you can imagine being as far away from the sea as you can get in Australia you may be getting close to Yowah. Not that that is bad, as there are many people who don't like being near the sea, what with all that salt water and topless sunbathing.

There is plenty of sand near Yowah so, if you do like the sea you won't be totally disappointed. There is not a lot of water in Yowah but what there is, is very unique. Water rushes to the surface from artesian wells, which are bores drilled down to a large water storage beneath the earth's surface. When the water, under reasonable pressure, reaches the earth's surface it is extremely hot. The enterprising people of Yowah have piped this water and have constructed - at considerable expense - three public double bath rooms . Each bathroom has two baths side by side, four walls, a lockable door and no roof. You can, along with the partner of your choice, lounge back in your own hot bath, looking up at the stars and sip champagne - a truly romantic moment, or it would be if not for the foul smell of sulphur which comes with the artesian water. If you can ignore this then you could be in heaven.

What else is there at Yowah? The opal fields of course. If you have not been to an Australian opal field you have not really lived. Nowhere else can you see such devastation. Opal miners have only one thing in mind when digging for opal and it certainly is not restoration. Mounds of dirt and holes abound and it can be a trial to move around safely. It is not advisable to wander around under the influence of alcohol or other substances or the wandering could be short-lived.

With all this devastation there is a strange beauty about the place. There is certainly a beauty about the gemstone that the locals find here. Yowah is the home of the Yowah Nut. A nondescript brown stone on the outside , but when split in two, can reveal a beautiful iron stone centre with strange patterns and crystal opal either in a pocket or often spread throughout the stone. When polished it is a thing of great beauty and value. These are unique to Yowah and can be purchased from the local miners at a reasonable price. You can even find them yourself as there is a fossicking area near to town where, for the cost of a fossicking licence, you can dig and hunt for opal to your hearts content.

This opal is the reason for the Yowah Opal Festival.

Now you know where Yowah is, and are obviously dead keen to get there, I'll tell you a little about the Festival. It is held every year and is attended by people from all over Australia, in fact, from all over the world.

Festivities start on the Friday night with a dinner under the stars. This year it was catered for by staff from a neighbouring cattle station. An added bonus for visitors as they get to sample the tucker (Australian for food) that the station hands (Australian for workers on cattle stations ) get to eat. This is a wonderful way to start the festival as long as it isn't raining. If it is raining it is not such a wonderful way to start the festival. Luckily it doesn't often rain here so it's usually alright. It does however get very cold at night in July so you have to rug up. The Committee does provide a huge bonfire and other small fires in drums for you to huddle around if you get too cold.

During the meal (3 courses) there is plenty of entertainment. Poetry reading is the feature. Now don't scoff if you have not heard Australian poetry. These are not your average poems about daffodils and the delights of love but real stories about real people in the outback. It is told with great feeling and often with a humorous slant. This is backed up by singing from well known Australian Country music singers. All in all it is a great first night. Needless to say there is a bar at the dinner and by the end of the night it can get a little loud. It is far better to join in as you will get little sleep if you live within 50 kilometres of Yowah.

The next day is largely set aside for the opal miners and suppliers of equipment, to sell their wares. Beautiful displays of gemstones are available for purchase directly from the miners and they're always up for a chat. Many of them are real characters and all have a story or two to tell. In between looking at the gems, you can take a helicopter ride over the area. This will give you a great feel for the harsh conditions these people live in and work in day in day out.

A highlight of the afternoon is the windlass races. A windlass, for those who haven't seen one, is that strange looking contraption that is set up over a well or a mine shaft and is used to haul up mullock (loose dirt from the mine). It consists of a cylinder of steel or wood, with a handle and stands on two sets of legs on either side of the mine shaft. A rope is wound around the cylinder and a bucket is attached. When the handle is turned the bucket will ascend or descend into the shaft depending on which way the handle is turned. If the bucket is full and the handle is let go, the bucket will inevitably plummet to the bottom of the shaft.

The windlass races are not held in shafts as the ability to view the progress of the bucket up the shaft would be quite limited. In fact, the only people able to judge the progress would be those down the shaft and they would only be able to see the progress in one shaft and really would not know how the race was unfolding. Another difficulty would be in finding three shafts of the same depth in close proximity. A windlass race, using three shafts spread over a large area would probably not attract a lot of spectators.

So, the Committee came up with a solution. The windlasses are set up on solid ground, the ropes are unwound to the same length and heavy weights are tied to the end of the ropes. Three contestants at a time then compete to wind the windlass dragging the weights over the ground to the finishing line. The first to get their weight across the line wins. Each winder has an assistant to help feed the rope onto the windlass cylinder to prevent slippage and tangling of the rope.

All of this may not sound too exciting but in the heat of battle it can be pretty exciting. There is a hell of a lot of yelling and encouragement given to the winders and it really is a strenuous exercise. There are men's races, women's races and veteran's races and the results are usually close and very exciting After watching this, or even competing if you fancy pitting yourself against the locals, then it is back to the bar for some more refreshment - a common theme.

There is also a display of local boulder opal and Yowah nuts as well as a jewellery competition in the local hall that is well worth a look. The jewellery is often very innovative and uses opal in each piece. The public are given a chance to vote for the best piece and presentations are made to the winners of the various categories during the evening.

Following the strenuous days activity, it is back to the tent or caravan for a rest in order to prepare for the night's activities.

Saturday night and yet another feast is prepared by the caterers with wine and beer in plentiful supply. Entertainment was again supplied with music and dancing going on well into the night.

The gemstone market was on again the next day with many bargains to be had. Toward late afternoon the stamina of some of the revellers was starting to wain and the attendance at the last meal were down a little on previous nights. Sunday night was the night of the thank-yous for all the work carried out by the locals in organizing a great weekend. Awards were also presented for the jewellery competition and there was a chance to pick up a real bargain at the auction. The night and the festival ended with a firework display.

While this festival may not be up with the big ones it is certainly unique. The people are friendly, the food is good, the beer is cold and plentiful and there are opals everywhere. You can sit and talk with the miners, you can fly in a helicopter over some of the harshest and most scenic Australian Outback, you can handle some of the most beautiful opals in the world and it's real cheap to stay there.

So hopefully, we'll see you there next year.

by John Dodson

Yowah Opal Festival Dates and Location

The Yowah Opal Festival is held in Yowah, Queensland, Australia every July. For more information on the Yowah Opal Festival check out http://ausopals.futureweb.com.au/opalfest.htm.