HUMP IN THE ROAD SPURS BOULIA CAMEL RACING TOWARDS 2021
With travel to many Outback Queensland communities off limits this winter due COVID-19, Boulia Camel Races may have hit a ‘hump’ in the road for the 2020 races, but this has only spurred them on towards a big welcome back to Boulia and Outback Queensland for their ‘Melbourne Cup of Camel Races’ in July 2021.
“To all the people who were planning to head to Outback Queensland to see us in Boulia this July, we’re as disappointed as you are to miss out on 2020,” explained event organiser Rebecka Britton. “Our town is really going to miss the influx of visitors and we never could have imagined a circumstance where we would close our doors to travellers.”
“But be assured it’s only a small speed hump in our plans, because we’ve already set the dates for Boulia Camel Races to return on 16 – 18 July 2021,” said Ms Britton.
“By the time Outback Queensland is rolling out the welcome mat for travellers again, our tiny towns will be relieved to see visitors back, but for now we’re all in this together and we’ll just have to live off our great memories of 2019.”
“The coveted Boulia Camel Cup will be waiting ready to be next claimed by a champion in 2021,” promises Ms Britton.
Winners of the 2019 Boulia Camel Cup were local camel trainers Dannileah Stewart and Ronnie Callope. Locals tip an extra year until the big Cup may even play to the reigning champion’s advantage, given their camels are younger than many others on the circuit and the extra year to mature and train may see this local team return readier than ever meet the visiting camel teams with stiff competition.
“The camel trainers and their crews who normally make the trek out to see us each year are really going to get itchy feet missing out this year,” said Ms Britton. “One of our longest supporters, camel trainer and jockey Glenda Sutton, has been making the trek interstate to Boulia for two decades and our four local camel training teams will miss the races as much as our visitors.”
2021 Had originally been set to be the 25th Anniversary celebration of the Boulia Camel Races, held annually since 1997, but with the 2020 event skipped, the anniversary celebration will be pushed back to 2022.
The Camel Races committee promises to ‘keep the campfires burning’ until visitors return. In the interim they invite everyone to join them on Facebook and Instagram to share and re-live the memories of their Outback Queensland and camel racing adventures.
