Australian Camp Oven Festival, Millmerran

The Australian Camp Oven Festival celebrates bush cooking and bush heritage on the western Darling Downs. Old Outback Now listings for the festival in Millmerran were well linked, and this guide replaces them.

A short history

The festival was the idea of bush poet Gary Fogarty and drover, poet and bush cook Ned Winter. What began as a friendly cooking contest between mates became a public festival in October 1999, when the first event drew a crowd of around 800, according to the organisers. It has grown into one of Queensland's flagship regional events, with the organisers reporting more than 9,000 visitors at recent festivals. Ned Winter died in 2025, aged 90; the festival honours his role in founding it.

What happens

• Camp oven cooking competitions across championship, intermediate, youth ("drover's apprentices") and beginner categories, with teams cooking in cast-iron camp ovens over coals.
• Bush skills: damper throwing, billy boiling and other traditional contests.
• Bush poetry and country music across the weekend.
• Heritage displays and working demonstrations of rural skills.
• Workshops for anyone who wants to learn camp oven cooking.

The program changes each festival; check the official website for the current one.

Camp oven cooking basics

A camp oven is a heavy cast-iron pot with a lid that holds hot coals, letting you bake, roast and stew over a campfire. Traditional dishes include damper, roasts, stews and puddings. If you are new to it, start with damper and use coals rather than flames — burnt bottoms are a rite of passage. Always follow local fire restrictions and never leave a fire unattended.

About Millmerran

Millmerran is a rural town on the western Darling Downs surrounded by grain, cotton and cattle country. It is about 82 km west of Toowoomba and roughly 200 km west of Brisbane. Most visitors to the festival camp at the showgrounds; the town also has a motel, hotels and a caravan park, and Toowoomba has a wide range of accommodation.

Planning your visit

• Book early: camping and local accommodation fill up for festival weekend.
• Bring: warm clothes for the nights, a chair, a hat and sunscreen.
• Tickets: buy through the official website. We do not list prices.
• Fire safety: follow the organisers' rules and any fire restrictions in force.

Getting there

Millmerran is reached via the Gore Highway from Toowoomba. The nearest major airport is Toowoomba Wellcamp or Brisbane.

Other outback events

See our festivals, rodeos and race days guide, the Birdsville Races and the Mount Isa Rodeo.

The camp oven tradition

Cast-iron camp ovens, sometimes called Dutch ovens, have been used in the Australian bush since colonial times. Drovers, shearers' cooks, stockmen and travellers relied on them to bake bread, roast meat and make stews over open fires, often far from towns. Damper — a simple bread made from flour, water and salt and baked in the coals or a camp oven — became a symbol of bush cooking. Aboriginal people had their own long traditions of cooking in coals and ground ovens, and of grinding seeds for bread long before European flour arrived.

Today, camp oven cooking is a popular part of caravanning and camping culture, and festivals like Millmerran's keep the skills alive.

Choosing and caring for a camp oven

If you're inspired to buy one:

• Size — a medium-sized oven suits a couple or small family; larger ovens are heavy to carry.
• Material — traditional cast iron holds heat well but must be seasoned and kept dry to prevent rust. Spun steel ovens are lighter.
• Seasoning — coat a new cast-iron oven with a thin layer of cooking oil and heat it to create a protective layer. Repeat as needed.
• Cleaning — avoid soap and soaking; wipe or scrub with hot water, dry thoroughly over the fire and apply a thin coat of oil before storing.
• Accessories — a lid lifter, a trivet to keep food off the base, heatproof gloves and a small shovel for coals are essential.

Cooking tips

• Use coals, not flames. Let the fire burn down to a good bed of coals before cooking.
• For baking, put more coals on the lid than underneath to prevent burning.
• Turn the oven and lid regularly to even out hot spots.
• Line the oven with baking paper for bread and cakes.
• Never leave a fire unattended, and extinguish it completely with water when finished.

Fire restrictions

Fire danger periods and total fire bans apply in Queensland and other states, and they can change quickly. Check the Queensland Fire Department website or the relevant state fire service before lighting a campfire. In national parks, follow park rules — some prohibit fires or allow them only in provided fireplaces, and collecting firewood is often banned. Gas-fuelled cooking may be the only option during bans.

The Darling Downs region

Millmerran sits on the edge of the Darling Downs, one of Queensland's most productive farming regions. The region's rich black soils support grain, cotton and cattle. Nearby attractions include Toowoomba's gardens and its Carnival of Flowers in September, the Granite Belt wineries around Stanthorpe, and the historic towns of the western Downs. Heading west, the Gore Highway continues to Goondiwindi and St George, gateways to the outback proper.

Where else to try camp oven cooking

Many outback caravan parks and station stays host camp oven nights, and some tours include bush cooking. Ask at visitor centres in towns such as Longreach and Charleville. See our outback camping guide for campfire tips.

Practical information

• When: October, every second year (check official dates).
• Where: Millmerran Showgrounds, Queensland.
• Official site: acof.com.au.

Further reading

• Millmerran