#12 steps to having an awesome time at Tumbafest

Welcome to Tumbafest!

What you’ve never heard of Tumbafest???  

Well read on dear friends…..

I have compiled a rough step by step guide to enjoying yourself at this wonderful weekend festival of  music, food and wine in our little town of Tumbarumba, nestled in the hills of southern NSW Australia. You can thank me later!

Step 1:

Find out everything you can about the delightful town of Tumbarumba.  

Note: search my blog for Tumbarumba,  or the roll off your tongue poetical phrase, Tumba- bloody-Rumba, and some real gems will pop up!  

Or you can just do a google search and see what you find!  (It won’t be nearly as interesting as my personal anecdotes though – you were warned 🙂

Step 2:

Put aside the last weekend in February for the foreseeable future so that you don’t double book yourself.  You don’t want to miss out on this experience! This has been on the calendar every year since 1997!

Step 3:

Buy your ticket on line so you get the early bird price – for about $60 (at the time of writing) you can have a weekend ticket to see all the bands during the weekend and experience the atmosphere on offer. Follow Tumbafest on Facebook so you keep to date with all the arrangements or visit their site www.tumbafest.com.au

Step 4:

Arrive in town on the Friday afternoon ready for a big weekend.  Grab a hat, sunscreen, money, comfy chair, picnic rug and your dancing shoes. It’s also good to organise some friends to spend the weekend with, but if no friends are available just make some new ones in town, we’re a friendly bunch.

Step 5:

Get in early on Saturday morning, assess the sun’s trajectory for the day and select a table and/or chairs in a good location taking into account the prevailing weather forecast.  Look at where the shade will be later in the day and be prepared to move as the day warms up.  Don’t leave your spot unattended, if possible, as it will be snavelled up by someone else very quickly. Especially if shade is on offer!

Step 6:

Check out the market stalls and food stalls in the music breaks so you don’t miss any of the on-stage action.

Step 7:

Sit back and relax taking in the wonderful bands that are scheduled throughout the day.  It’s a good idea to peruse the program for the weekend in advance so you know which bands you are excited to see and which ones you can miss by going to the toilet or catching up with friends.

Step 8 :

Periodically throughout the day launch yourself from your comfy position to taste-test some of the excellent local wines available in the Wine Courtyard, buy some yummy food in the Food Alley, take in a cooking demonstration or visit the Beer Tent (what I call ‘running the gauntlet’).

Step 9:

If you’ve brought your children or grandchildren along, there are so many activities for kids to do.  It’s great value as kids are free to enter the festival.  They can have their face painted for free, play in the sandpit in the Kid’s Corner, ride their scooters or skateboards around on the skate park, ride around the pump track and catch up with all their little friends in a safe environment. They will find you if they need you!

Step 10:

Remember to drink copious amounts of water throughout the day and reapply sunscreen as it gets quite warm.  Wine and beer don’t count as fluids so you need to add some water into the mix to keep yourself upright.  Security has been known to throw out those who have over imbibed. Don’t even consider setting up your table and chairs in the middle of the creek (despite how hot you might get), the organisers take a dim view of this behaviour.  The Duck Race is the only activity allowed in the creek.

Step 11:

If the music makes you feel like dancing then get up and join the others on the grassy dance floor.  It’s a mosh pit full of fun people just like you, all singing along to the great music being played up on the back of the truck (aka the stage).

Step 12:

Note this option isn’t available in 2022 due to Covid putting a stop to the Kokoda adventures for the time being.

Do not leave without sampling a delicious pancake with blueberry sauce and ice-cream lovingly cooked by the Tumbarumba 2 Kokoda students.  It’s a fundraiser for the group’s trek to Kokoda in April every second year and manned by students, leaders and parents. (I am declaring my pecuniary interest here as my husband is one of the Kokoda leaders and cooks a mean pancake 🙂 )

Sunday

Repeat Saturday’s steps but if you have over indulged the night before just lie down on the crunchy grass and have a little rest – you’re among friends!

Optional extras:

Get together with your mates beforehand and arrange a fancy dress theme for the weekend.  We’ve had pixies, groups in matching surf shirts, grown men in lederhosen, gladiators, vikings and other variations on the dress up theme.  It’s all about the fun.

Tumbafest has been running since 1997 and I am proud to say that I have been to almost every event since its inception.  I have volunteered, along with other community minded people, been on the committee in previous years, but these days they have a paid organiser. Helpful and friendly volunteers still do much of the hard work in getting it up and running. Make sure you say thank you if you see them wandering around in their special shirts.

Our town may be small but we know how to party and have fun – we also produce top quality cool climate, award winning wines! Given the recent bushfire catastrophe in our area we need all the help we can to get back on track, so consider #HolidayHereThisYear and bring your #EmptyEsky #bushfirerevoery

See you at Tumbafest 🙂

Here are some happy snaps at Tumbafest in previous years.

Deb 🙂

Please note this post was first written in 2017 but was updated for Tumbafest 2020 and the 25th birthday event in 2022..

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