On 30 December 2019, the Nariel Creek Folk Festival camping reserve was evacuated by direction of the police in the face of the fires which devastated the North East of Victoria.

A large group of volunteers stayed behind to protect the grounds and stop grass fires from burning into the camping area and protect against spot fires.

The fires burnt right up to the fence line on the north and west borders, and down to the creek on the ridge on the east side.

Many of the volunteer team stayed for more than a week keeping watch for any further outbreaks of fire, and to watch over the large numbers of camper vans, caravans, tents, vehicles and camping equipment left during the evacuation.

As a result of the heat wave leading up to New Year’s Eve and then the evacuation, there was no road bowls match at this festival - the first Nariel Creek Folk Festival without road bowls for many, many years.

Convoys of campers, escorted by emergency services, returned to the Nariel camping ground on 8 January 2020 and several days after to collect vehicles, camper trailers and camping gear.

These photos show how close the fires came to the camping grounds.