There's something in the air at Camp Oven Festival
THERE'S nothing like a camp oven feast on a cold night in the bush, and the camp ovens will be full of delicious treats at this year's even at Nymboida
Grafton
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AUSTRALIAN cuisine may not have the spice of Central America or the style of France, but on a cold night in the bush, nothing beats a camp oven feast.
Celebrating its fifth year, the Clarence Valley Camp Oven Festival is a celebration of Australian outdoor lifestyle, the bush and of course the versatile camp oven.
The event runs from today until Sunday at the Nymboida Camping and Canoe Centre and features everything from bush poetry, camp oven cooking and the immensely popular bush dance on Saturday evening.
Laena Stephenson has been coordinating the event for the past three years and has many fond memories of eating a delicious meal out of the classic cast iron pot.
"I just love the way you can eat whatever you want to eat while you are out camping,” she said.
"Some of the meals cooked here have been amazing.”
The weekend features a series of competitions where camp oven masters can vie for cash prizes by cooking breads, stews, roasts, desserts and anything they think will impress the judges.
For those more interested in tasting the fare, there is plenty of opportunity to do so and even limited spots left for the 'people's choice' dinner where the public will have the chance to be the judge of the best Valley bush chefs have to offer.
Ms Stephenson explained there was more to the weekend than cooking with two stages of music and for those more inclined to write a verse than cook a roast, there were also poetry competitions.
But for Ms Stephenson it was the Saturday night Bush Dance that brought young and old together that was her favourite and she said there were limited opportunities for people to dance as they used to.
"My favourite part is that we have all generations here, from babies to grandparents, it brings a different energy, ” she said.
"There are the smallest of kids dancing with grandparents and everybody is always smiling.”
Throw in a bevy of other competitions like billy boiling, (plastic) platypus throwing, cardboard canoe races and the wacky beanie, and the weekend was set to be a cracker.
There were limited spaces left to camp and cook and bookings could be made by calling 6649 4155 or visiting the festival's Facebook page.
Originally published as There's something in the air at Camp Oven Festival
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