This year’s Eel Festival at Elizabeth Farm was a great success! The day started with a Welcome to Country by Indigenous Elder Greg Simms, and a smoking ceremony by Uncle Wes Marne.

Inside the house, Jacqui gave lessons in making ‘collared eel’ in the kitchen, while in the house’s formal rooms I was talking about the often unexpected relationships between Indigenous people and the Macarthur family – the stories of Daringa (the wife of Coleby) who visited Elizabeth Macarthur in their first house at Sydney Cove in 1790, of Tedbury (the son of the renowned Rainbow Warrior, Pemulwuy) who offered to spear a troublesome Governor Bligh, and of Harry and Bill, two men whose stories are inextricably linked to the Parramatta area and Elizabeth Farm. I’ll be telling Harry’s story again in September, 200 years after one particular event took place.

Outside Uncles Greg and Wes had visitors enthralled, we wove a traditional eel trap, got up close with live eels and learnt about river health, while Fred (“middle name ‘bush’, last name ‘tucker'”) had fresh eel wrapped and roasting over the coals. Here are some highlights from this year’s festival, while you can revisit making collared eel here. See you in 2018!