Deni Ute Muster museum wait is finally over

The museum, which is located at the Deni Ute Muster site on Conargo Rd,  tells the story of the event from its beginnings in 1999 to the present day.

It also pays tribute to the ute, the history behind some of the festival’s most popular events and attractions, and more.

Items on display include the contents of a ‘history box’ for each year of the event, including stickers, articles, tickets, wrist bands and even merchandise for that particular year. 

Honour boards listing competition winners for each year have also been produced, and there are interactive touch screens where people can go through the photos from each year of the muster.

A library has also been created containing magazines and newspapers which featured the ute muster, books about or which mention the Deni Ute Muster and even books on the artists who have performed at the event.

There is also a new retail space, which has allowed the team to expand its merchandise range.

The centrepiece of the current exhibition — which will be ever evolving due to the sheer amount of memorabilia archived and donated — is a 1979 HZWB Bitza designed and built by Ferrel Kev, and now retired to the exhibition.

There are also two Isuzu Wasp utes which date back to the early 1960s. Isuzu only shipped 122 Wasps to Australia.

‘‘Isuzu is the Deni Ute Muster’s major sponsor and we’re pleased to have two of these very special utes loaned to us for the museum,’’ Ute Muster general manager Vicky Lowry said.

‘‘They have been donated by two members of the Isuzu Car Club, and the club’s members will have a gathering in Deniliquin this weekend to coincide with the museum’s opening.’’

The museum’s build has been on the drawing board for several years, and was officially kickstarted with $1 million from the Drought Stimulus Package in 2019, which was added to the previously announced $600,000 from the Stronger Communities Fund, and allowed for the project’s two stages to be done at the same time.

Deniliquin Play on the Plains Festival Ltd contributed the remaining funds for the $1.7 million project, and the concrete slabs and framing went up under the guidance of board member and project manager Rob Hallum in May 2020.

In addition to the museum and the retail space, the new facility is the new home of the Deni Ute Muster staff who have already relocated from their former HQ at the corner of Poictiers and Hardinge Sts.

Also included in the project is a fully operational 30ft Comet windmill, which as well as being a tourism attraction doubles as an education tool.