If you guessed it was the eel – you’d be correct! Elizabeth Farm which is part of the Sydney Living Museum group is celebrating Parramatta’s namesake, the eel in a family friendly festival. This festival has quite a lot of historical significance in the area, as the local Darug people known as the Burramattagal have gathered for generations during eel season to feast, trade and share stories.
The festival will start with a welcome and a traditional smoking ceremony, and then tribes can enjoy the Muru Mittigar Markets, which will sell authentic Indigenous traditional and contemporary paintings and artefacts.
There are demonstrations, talks and activities running at the festival all day, with a live eel display where the kids can get up close to an eel and if they’re brave enough, give one a pat! There will also be a unique demonstration from Sydney Living Museum’s colonial gastronomer, Jacqui Newling in the homestead’s kitchen, where she will demonstrate how to prepare collared eel using a recipe from 1816.
There will also be traditional activities such as Fred’s Bush Tucker Cook-Up where he will prepare a whole eel, wrap it in paperbark and cook it the traditional way, and then afterwards you’re invited to have a taste. But if you’re not keen on eel for lunch, don’t despair!
There’s also a bush tucker BBQ lunch available or you can head to Elizabeth Farm’s Tearoom to enjoy some home made lemon myrtle scones with lilly pilly jam and a cup of tea.
