The street parade is a highlight of the Falling Leaf Festival in Tumut. Photo: Falling Leaf Festival Facebook.
Each April, the poplars, elms and willows lining the Tumut River ignite in gold, amber and russet, framed by the blue-tinged Brindabella Ranges behind – it is considered one of the best autumn displays in NSW.
For 72 years the Snowy Valleys community has celebrated this striking change of season with the Falling Leaf Festival, and this year’s edition, running 1 to 3 May, shapes up as one of the best yet.
The weekend attracts visitors from near – the Riverina, South West Slopes and Central West – and far – Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, spreading out across Tumut’s main street, parks, pubs and stages for a weekend that has become a firm favourite on the regional calendar.
The festivities for the “Bringin’ Back the 70s”-themed event, kick off on Friday evening with live theatre.
Tumut’s own award-winning See Me Hear Me Theatre presents Xander Starbuck: Space Cowboy Parts II & III at the Tumut River Brewing Co. – a radio-style theatrical adventure in which six voice actors, with no sets, costumes or props, create a full cast of characters in a rich live soundscape.
It’s a tongue-in-cheek space adventure featuring a loveable rogue, a cyberdog named Sparky, boo-worthy villains and two hours of action-packed silliness.
By Saturday morning, the festival hits full stride.
The main stage on Wynyard Street fires up at 10 am with free live music, market stalls, food trucks, buskers, kids’ rides and roving entertainment filling the street from end to end.
A Welcome to Country and traditional smoking ceremony opens proceedings at 10:30 am, followed by the sweet music of Tumut High School Year 12 Band and then the Riverina’s own Groove Factorie taking the stage at noon.
At 1 pm, the Street Parade sweeps down Wynyard Street – a long-standing tradition managed with the help of the local NSW Rural Fire Service Cadets that brings the whole community together.
This year’s parade carries an extra jolt of energy courtesy of a theme nobody can resist.
Adding a fun twist for 2026, participants and spectators are encouraged to embrace the groove with a 1970s Best Dressed Competition, with $500 in prize money up for grabs.
Think flares, florals, platform shoes and retro flair. If you’ve been waiting your whole life for an excuse to wear a sequinned jumpsuit in public, your moment has arrived.
After the parade, the Australian Army Band Kapooka takes the Wynyard Street stage at 2 pm. Based at the Army Recruit Training Centre since 1952, the band is a fixture of the Riverina community and brings a 28-piece ensemble ranging from brass and woodwind to stage band and rock.
This year they’re also leaning into the 1970s theme, delivering a big band sound to cap off a very groovy afternoon.
Meanwhile, out at the Tumut Showground, the annual Tumut Rodeo gets underway from 1 pm – tickets via Ticketebo – with an after-party at the Oriental Hotel for those still standing.
Tumut has cowboy cred in bucketloads.
Bob Holder, known as the “Cootamundra Cat” and considered the world’s oldest competing cowboy, first rode at the Tumut Rodeo as a 14-year-old, won the bronc ride, and went on to represent Australia on the American circuit in 1959 before being inducted into the Australian Professional Rodeo Association Hall of Fame.
The Tumut Rodeo Club itself has deep roots too – speaking of the 70s – in 1975 members bought a stallion from the Northern Territory for $100, kept him intact while the rest of the mob were gelded, and named him Blondie.
He became the foundation sire of the club’s bucking horse program, breeding champions with names such as Volcano, Dynamite and Hell Raiser, and many of the horses in the pen today trace back to him.
The feature event, the Blondie Challenge Wrangler Xtreme Broncs, honours that legacy and the fact this mountain town is where champions are born and raised on the backs of broncs and bulls.
And they’ll still be celebrating the fact that on 18 April, 20-year-old Toby Deudney from Tumut pulled off the biggest win of his career, scoring 93 points on Night Crawler, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Bareback Horse of the Year, to win the San Angelo Cinch Chute-Out in Texas.
Competing on the American circuit for two and a half years, studying at Odessa College in Texas, and ranked number six in the Resistol Bareback Riding Rookie of the Year race heading into the competition, Deudney moved into the top five with the $7500 cheque.
His ambitions are clear: he wants to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas and become world champion.
“I’m hoping to build a legacy for bareback riders in Australia so we can have some more. I’m hoping everyone at home can look and think, ‘OK, we’re from Australia, but we can make it.’
At 4 pm, as the bucking continues and the main street winds down, See Me Hear Me Theatre brings Xander Starbuck: Space Cowboy back for a second session – this time at Brooklyn on Fitzroy.
For anyone who missed Friday night or simply wants another two hours of rollicking space adventure, this is the show.
Come Saturday evening, the laughs move indoors.
The RSGx Falling Leaf Comedy Gala at the Montreal Community Theatre is shaping up as one of the highlights of the weekend. Headlining is Mel Buttle – one of Australia’s sharpest and most versatile comic talents.
An award-winning stand-up who has performed at the Sydney Opera House and toured sold-out shows across the country, she is equally well known as the creator of ‘Lyn’, the deadpan online mum character who has racked up millions of TikTok likes and made her a social media phenomenon.
Supporting her is a strong line-up all presided over by the incredible, Tumut-adoptee Dane Simpson alongside Steve Bradshaw, Big Russ, Suma Iyer and Peter J Casey from the Riverina Comedy Club.
Sunday promises a gentler rhythm.
Rotary Pioneer Park hosts Sunday in the Park from 10 am – featuring kids’ entertainment with The Pretty Amazing Jono, live music from Marty’s Music School, Fijian community singers, an Aboriginal cultural display and demonstrations with Wolgalu Footprints’ Shane Herrington, groovy kids’ craft, plein air painting, coffee and a sausage sizzle run by Franklin Public School P&C.
The morning begins with the First Super Fun Run at 9 am – a 5 km and 10 km race along the riverfront – and the Family Colour Run at 10:30 am for just $5 cash on the day.
The fun run requires pre-registration at the Falling Leaf Festival website, linked below.
Sunday evening rounds out with Women of the Riverina at Montreal Theatre at 6 pm — an original performance weaving 10 stories written by local women across story, movement, music and film, with tickets via Humanitix.
Rounding out the long weekend on Monday 4 May, Voices of Women run a free storymaking workshop – Tumut: What’s Your Story? – at Tumut Library from 2 to 4 pm, open to local women and free to attend with registration via Humanitix.
Whether you’re a first-timer or a Falling Leaf regular, the draw is the same: crisp mountain air, a town dressed in gold, and a community that knows how to celebrate.
The Falling Leaf Festival runs from 1-3 May. The full program and all ticket links are available via the festival’s website – most events are free, but the ticketed shows are selling fast.
Original Article published by Edwina Mason on About Regional.
