The Lake Bolac Eel Festival is a community music and art festival held each autumn on the foreshore of Lake Bolac in south-western Victoria, and inspired by the fact that Lake Bolac was a traditional gathering place for indigenous people before white settlement.
"Lake Boloke is the most celebrated place in the Western District for the fine quality and abundance of its eels, and, when the autumn rains induce these fish to leave the lake and to go down the river to the sea, the Aborigines gather there from great distances" James Dawson, Australian Aborigines 1881.
The Festival is a gathering place for people who care for the environment and respect Aboriginal cultural heritage. This is reflected in the indigenous dancing and ceremony, the environmental forum, indigenous, environmental and historical displays, and the Healing Walk held prior to the Festival, all adding up to a unique Festival experience.
In 2011 Neil Murray, Archie Roach and Shane Howard performed their iconic songs to an enraptured audience. The Twilight Celebration is a wonderful gathering of artists, indigenous dancers and local school children.
Music from the Festival Stage features a diversity of blues, roots and acoustic performance, with young and emerging musicians encouraged. Archie Roach, Neil Murray and Shane Howard headlined in 2011 supported by The Tea Leaves, The Quarry Mountain Dead Rats, Bart Willoughby, Hannah Acfield and Dirt River Radio.
This welcoming and family friendly festival has something for everyone, with plenty to see and do including the Art Exhibition, workshops, roving entertainers, a climbing wall for the adventurous, a touch tank of live eels, plenty of children's activities, and a craft and produce market.
Limited accommodation is available in Lake Bolac and nearby towns. However, there are plenty of campsites at the Lake Bolac Caravan Park and on Lake Bolac Foreshore.