A brand new agricultural festival celebrating Speckle Park cattle, regional communities and the future of farming is heading to the New England this June, with organisers hoping Speck Fest 2026 will become a major annual event for the region.
Hosted by Wattle Grove Cattle Company at Garoo across the June long weekend, the three-day festival will combine cattle sales, industry speakers, field day exhibits, educational sessions, live music, camping, food and family-friendly entertainment in what organiser Dale Humphries describes as “a festival of everything”.
“It stemmed from wanting to promote ourselves as a cattle stud, wanting to sell some cattle, but also wanting to get together and have a barbecue and a beer and a chat,” Mr Humphries said.
“We wanted to talk to the local agricultural community and obviously then have some fun along the way.”
Mr Humphries said the event had been in development for some time, following the family’s expansion from their long-established Oberon cattle operation into the Nundle district nearly three years ago.
“We generally have a cattle sale and event at Oberon and another one in Queensland at Toowoomba,” he said.
“Part of the reason of looking at a property at Nundle was that it was a bit of a halfway point.”
But Speck Fest quickly evolved into something much bigger than a cattle sale.
Mr Humphries said mental health in rural communities had also been a driving force behind the event, particularly following the loss of friends to suicide and the ongoing pressures facing farmers during drought and difficult seasons.
“That was an important thing as well, to get the community together,” he said.
“My brother-in-law works with Lifeline and wanted to be involved to offer some drought assistance and have someone to talk to for farmers doing it tough.”
The result is a festival that aims to blend agriculture, education, innovation and community connection into one accessible event.
Across the weekend, visitors can expect industry-leading speakers, cattle technology demonstrations, youth panels, trade exhibits, beef tastings and a mini field day, alongside bonfires, camping, coffee vans, live music and the tongue-in-cheek “Greatest Steak BBQ Challenge”.
“Everyone spruiks about having the best steak, so we wanted to build on that and have a competition,” Mr Humphries said.
“There’ll be some industry-relevant judges, a People’s Choice Award, prize money and some pretty cool trophies as well.”
At the centre of the festival are Speckle Park cattle, a Canadian breed Mr Humphries and his family have been breeding for almost 20 years.
“They’re known for their sustainability because they eat less, gain more weight and the quality of product at the end of it is phenomenal,” he said.
“We want people to come out and try it and compare it to other steaks if they want to.”
Mr Humphries said the event would also introduce many people to the breed for the first time, while opening broader conversations around beef quality and industry trends.
“We’d like to see the beef industry move towards payment on quality product rather than the colour of the cattle,” he said.
“We all walk into a butcher shop or Coles or Woolies and buy a steak – we don’t buy a coat colour.”
The festival will also feature the launch of the Coloured Cattle Company, a new initiative promoting quality beef production across a range of cattle breeds.
Youth in agriculture is another major focus, with Friday’s program including panel discussions featuring emerging industry leaders, alongside sessions exploring agricultural technology, AI in farming, cattle reproduction and genetics.
Mr Humphries said encouraging young people to engage with agriculture was essential.
“We’re pretty passionate about youth in ag and even teaching city kids where their food and fibre comes from,” he said.
“When kids think chocolate milk comes from brown cows, it’s a problem.”
His daughter, an agricultural school teacher and founder of Ag Heroes, will also speak during the event about connecting urban students with farming and food production.
While organisers hope the event grows into a large-scale annual festival in coming years, Mr Humphries said the inaugural event was ultimately about bringing people together.
“We wanted to have a festival of everything and the festival was probably the word that kept coming up,” he said.
“Speck Fest was created and we really hope we can build on it and make it an annual event.”
Speck Fest 2026 runs from Friday June 5 to Sunday June 7 at Wattle Grove Cattle Company, Nundle. Tickets and camping information are available online.
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