Deniliquin Ute Muster
culture
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/world/australia/deni-ute-muster.html
A Wild Country Party in Australia Proves a Balm for Rural Loneliness
It’s been called the most debauched outdoor party in Australia. But behind the drunken antics at the Deni Ute Muster, a network of friendship is lifting awareness of mental health issues.
“Here” is Deniliquin, a small farming town in rural New South Wales, where thousands of people from around Australia come for a weekend outdoor festival built around the “ute”, Australia’s beloved utility truck. Conceived of 20 years ago as a way of giving the local economy a lift, the festival, or muster, has become a juggernaut of rural identity: Almost 20,000 people attended last weekend’s muster, which featured Carrie Underwood, the American country music star.
Research shows that farmers are among those at highest risk of suicide in Australia, and people living in remote areas take their own lives at twice the rate of those in the cities. It is particularly bad, many say, among men in those areas, who are expected to live up to an ideal of good-humored, unwavering masculinity.
That Aussie ideal was on display even before the festivities officially started as young men arrived in utes crammed with camping gear and beer, honking, whooping and waving from the windows.
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