Gundagai has long welcomed travellers, and this weekend’s street festival offers another reason to stop and explore its history and attractions. Photo: Gundagai Visitor Information Centre.
One of Australia’s most storied country towns, Gundagai has spent generations turning its history into songs, monuments and legends and this Friday, those stories will come to life in light across the walls of its historic main street.
The Festival of Gundagai will take over Sheridan Street and Carberry Park for five hours of music, markets, food and entertainment on 18 September.
After dark, landmark buildings will become giant canvases for projections inspired by the Murrumbidgee River and the people who shaped the town.
But the action starts well before sunset.
Gundagai High School performers Strive to Serve and local band Deja Groove will take to the stage, while Cirque Um Navigate will send circus performers roaming through the crowd.
Amusement rides, face painting and interactive displays will keep younger festivalgoers busy from the 4 pm opening.
The Country Makers Market will line Sheridan Street with handmade gifts, fashion, jewellery, homewares and artisan goods.
Gourmet street food, regional produce and local wines will be served alongside dance, storytelling and cultural performances.
Behind the spectacle is a simple idea – take cars out of the main street and fill it with people.
The present council-run festival was launched in 2024 after Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council secured $121,600 through the NSW Government’s Open Streets Program.
The funding also supported Cootamundra’s Wattle Time Festival and community Christmas celebrations in both towns under the broader “Starry Nights Festival” banner.
The events were intended to breathe new life into town centres while supporting local businesses, artists and performers.
The idea found a natural home in Sheridan Street, where much of Gundagai’s architectural character remains.
That character extends well beyond the festival precinct.
Arrive early or stay for the weekend and Gundagai has plenty more stories to reveal.
For first-time visitors, the natural starting point is the Gundagai Visitor Information Centre, home to two of the town’s most unusual attractions.
The Gabriel Collection preserves photographs taken by local doctor Charles Louis Gabriel between about 1887 and 1927, creating an extraordinary record of daily life in and around Gundagai.
The centre also displays Rusconi’s Marble Masterpiece, created by Gundagai stonemason Frank Rusconi from 20,948 pieces of NSW marble.
In Sheridan Street, the Australian Pen Museum contains more than 3000 writing-related objects. Its collection includes an item believed to be about 4000 years old and documents dating back more than 450 years.
A walk through town takes in the monument to Wiradjuri flood heroes Yarri and Jacky Jacky, who rescued people during the disastrous Murrumbidgee flood of 1852, as well as the Dad, Dave, Mum and Mabel statues in Carberry Park.
Visitors should also keep an eye out for three smaller characters along Sheridan Street.
The hand-forged bronze Tuckerbox Pups were installed in 2021 to create a playful link between the town centre and the famous Dog on the Tuckerbox at Snake Gully.
Chip waits outside Lotts Family Hotel, Scoop plays with a newspaper near FoodWorks and Local Liquor, and Snags tackles a string of sausages outside Smarts Butchery.
The Old Gundagai Mill provides another link with the settlement’s earliest years.
Built in 1848 by Joseph Morley for businessmen Flood and Hanley, it was the first flour mill established in Gundagai and is believed to be the town’s oldest surviving building.
Its position on higher ground enabled it to survive the catastrophic 1852 flood, which swept away much of the original settlement on the river flats and killed at least 78 people.
Plans have been explored to restore the mill and develop it as an agritourism attraction. While the interior is not generally open to visitors, the historic stone building can still be viewed from the outside.
Another story lies in North Gundagai Cemetery, where bushranger Andrew George Scott, better known as Captain Moonlite, is buried.
Scott was executed in 1880 following the Wantabadgery siege.
More than a century later, his remains were moved from Sydney’s Rookwood Cemetery and reinterred near those of his companion James Nesbitt, in keeping with his final wish.
Visitors can also explore the Old Gundagai Gaol, follow the town’s heritage walk or head towards the Murrumbidgee to see the surviving historic bridges and the Prince Alfred Bridge memorial.
For more than a century, the Prince Alfred Bridge carried travellers between Sydney and Melbourne across the Murrumbidgee and its floodplain.
Its wrought-iron river spans opened in 1867, followed by the long timber viaduct that gave the crossing its unmistakable profile.
Rebuilt in its final form in 1896, the bridge stretched more than 900 metres and remained the longest in NSW until the Sydney Harbour Bridge opened in 1932.
Its days as part of the Hume Highway ended when the Sheahan Bridge opened in 1977.
Decades of deterioration followed and, in 2021, about 711 metres of the timber viaduct was dismantled as a public safety risk.
But not all of the landmark disappeared.
The iron bridge and several timber approach spans remain in use at the southern end, while a memorial near the former northern approach incorporates salvaged material and tells the story of the crossing that helped connect two capital cities.
Running nearby is Gundagai’s heritage-listed railway bridge and timber viaduct; built in 1903 to carry the railway towards Tumut, the imposing structure combines a steel truss across the river with dozens of timber spans across the floodplain and remained in service until the early 1980s.
The disused railway bridge remains standing but is closed to pedestrians.
Visitors can see both historic crossings at close range by following the River Walk from Yarri Park, with signs directing walkers towards the bridge precinct at the end of Sheridan Street.
The railway story continues at the old Gundagai railway station precinct, set above the floodplain. Its heritage-listed station building and goods shed recall the branch line that once connected Gundagai with Tumut.
Beyond the river, Mount Parnassus Lookout offers views across Gundagai and the Murrumbidgee Valley, while the Dog on the Tuckerbox remains an essential stop about eight kilometres north of town.
Its refurbished kiosk and farm shop reopened in September 2025, giving travellers another reason to linger at the famous landmark.
Together, they give visitors a chance to join the festivities while discovering the town and stories behind it.
The Festival of Gundagai will run from 4 to 9 pm on Friday 18 September in Sheridan Street and Carberry Park. Entry is free.
Original Article published by Edwina Mason on About Regional.
