Feast Forest Farm
Bringing community together to share knowledge, build connections and inspire action
Community Participation - LEP_23-023_LLC012
The issue
The Feast Forest Farm (FFF) emerged from a successful funding application to the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR), with the goal of designing a community-led program that explores how we can collectively respond to the challenges of drought.
Through a series of local events, FFF brought together producers, businesses, and community leaders to share knowledge, build connections, and inspire action. Each event featured guest speakers—including Traditional Owners and local producers—who shared their lived experiences of drought across generations, supported by educational materials to deepen understanding and spark meaningful conversation.
The project presented a unique opportunity to develop a program that celebrated the region, elevated local producers, and highlighted the leadership and resilience within the community. By hosting two distinct events, we aimed to not only engage the broader community but also inspire pride and connection through shared experiences.
One of the main challenges was marketing a new type of event—one that needed to be both engaging and educational, with a focus on drought resilience. Location logistics also presented hurdles: The Feast was held on the Barham boardwalk and welcomed 100 guests in a vibrant, open-air setting, while The Forest Farm was hosted at the Pollack Swamp with a more intimate group of 35 people, participating in a pilot cultural heritage tour.
Perhaps the greatest opportunity lay in showcasing experiences that had never before existed in the region—particularly the cultural heritage tour led by local Elder Ron Galway. It marked a powerful step toward deeper cultural connection, community education, and a more inclusive approach to resilience.
The solution
- The solution was the engagement of external parties for marketing, Murray River Council and Destination NSW to promote the events and give the events a further radius viewing
- Volunteerism by community members to keep costing down
- Engagement of Traditional Owners for development of the Pollack Swamp tour – scripting and designing the content
- Local seasonal produce from local producers
The impact
The expected outcome was an understanding of who we can conceptually design, develop and implement programs that are beneficial to our local community, engage our traditional owners and enhance the community understanding of what is in our backyard.
The Pilot cultural heritage tour more particularly we knew that people would be engaged as the location has been seen by few and the feedback was overwhelming in what people gained from presentations from Traditional owners in what the location of the Pollack meant to them as a culture and how they can share their knowledge and history in an intimate format.
The other expected outcome was that the community wants much more of these unique experiences of share history and culture and to understand direct from descendants of the traditional owners and have great engagement and knowledge of their region.
The importance of developing programs that have not been in existence is vitally important to sharing knowledge, culture, experiences and also to enhance peoples understanding of the region and community in which they reside.
The pilot showcased a huge historical site of prominence and pride and the ability to take people on a journey that is memorable and impactful cannot go understated. The enjoyment of people sharing platters of local produce during the feast and also at the forest farm grazing station not only highlights the products we have in our backyard but also the people that produce them.
The impact of sharing a cultural site has longevity and opportunity for replication to make the cultural tour a tourist drawcard and First Nations employment and storytelling opportunity.
Key facts
- 18 Producers
- 135 Attendees
- 44 Volunteers
- 44 Local Businesses Engaged