On a sporting oval in a rural Australian town 15,000km from Knoxville, Tennessee, dozens of Dolly Partons saunter down the runway as a boisterous crowd cheers and swats away flies with their cowboy hats.<\/p>\n
As the sun begins to set, Jim Beams are flowing and music is blaring. One lucky punter is about to be crowned this year\u2019s best-dressed Dolly, complete with sash, trophy and bragging rights.<\/p>\n
For one weekend a year, this is not the sleepy agricultural township of Narromine, 430km north-west of Sydney. This is Dollymine, home to the nation\u2019s largest (and only) Dolly Parton<\/a> festival.<\/p>\n This is the fifth year the tribute festival has been running and the first to take place since the country music legend<\/a> died in August. A record 1,600 tickets have been sold \u2013 equivalent to just under half of Narromine\u2019s population.<\/p>\n Many in the crowd wear memorial tribute T-shirts, reading: \u201cWe will always love you, Dolly\u201d, and \u201cforever and always\u201d.<\/p>\n Jen Ballhausen, a local resident, has volunteered on the festival\u2019s committee since the beginning. She says the event was inspired by a desire to revitalise the community after a devastating drought from 2017 to 2019. Then Covid-19 hit and organisers had to wait until 2022 for it to run.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a fun group of people, mostly women, that had a common goal to provide something for the community, to support our community,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n It was a super fan volunteer who suggested a Dolly homage, and the committee figured it was a no-brainer. \u201cWe needed a female icon,\u201d Ballhausen says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first year was overwhelming \u2026 the number of people that got dressed up, we were walking around going, \u2018Holy moly, this is going to work.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWe knew we\u2019d set a bar, and this year has well and truly exceeded it. It just gets our town on the map \u2026 to not write off a little town. If we can at least highlight that small towns are great little communities, then we\u2019ve won.\u201d<\/p>\n double quotation markAny time there is love, light and inclusiveness being celebrated, she\u2019s here in spiritWynonah Dove, Dolly impersonatorA town doused in rhinestones<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a long day. The party starts at 9.30am in Narromine\u2019s main street which has undergone a metamorphosis to become a micro-Dollywood. Muted shopfronts have transformed into a sea of pink, rhinestones and butterflies. Parton\u2019s beaming face is everywhere: plastered on to windows, on the top of cupcakes and merchandise.<\/p>\n There are line dancers, drag queens and children from the local primary school performing a stirring rendition of Baby I\u2019m Burnin\u2019, complete with pom poms.<\/p>\n The temperature quickly climbs to 30C and those in Dolly-drag wipe makeup-laden sweat from their faces.<\/p>\n Narromine is 40km west of Dubbo and hundreds of kilometres inland \u2013 hot, flat country, and the shade awnings provide little reprieve. Some opt for tea towels to emulate Dolly\u2019s cleavage in place of silicone to avoid overheating.<\/p>\n Wynonah Dove, performing on Saturday evening as a Dolly impersonator, says Parton\u2019s sudden death has made the event \u201cespecially poignant\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Dolly passed, we had our first rehearsals the day after, and it was hard, I had trouble even singing the songs,\u201d she says between tears.<\/p>\n \u201cI just feel she\u2019s here with us, any time there is love, light and inclusiveness being celebrated, she\u2019s here in spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n Dove grew up in Tennessee, from a working-class background similar to Parton\u2019s. She recalled going a year without running water, \u201cdirt poor\u201d, and says that thanks to Parton and her extensive work, the local economy exploded.<\/p>\n \u201cShe just wanted to make the world a better place,\u201d she says. \u201cNone of us could afford to go on vacation, so we all went to Dollywood<\/a> \u2026 Everyone felt like she was our best friend, and we didn\u2019t even know her.\u201d<\/p>\n As the afternoon arrives, the crowd flocks to the local pub to re-energise with cold beers and live music. Many of the blow-ins are staying in its upstairs accommodation, which looks like a mini-tornado has passed through, leaving glitter, tasselled jackets and bottles of ros\u00e9 in its wake.<\/p>\n Among them is Nikolaas Kostraby \u2013 AKA Dolly Delicious \u2013 who has travelled to the festival from Canberra for the past three years after a recommendation from a neighbour from Narromine. In 2023 he was crowned best-dressed Dolly. This year he\u2019s on the committee and is a judge.<\/p>\n double quotation markI was nervous the first time, like, I\u2019m a man in a wig, in a regional area, but it\u2019s been the complete oppositeNikolaas Kostraby<\/p>\n \u201cI was robbed the first year, however I came back the second year and cleaned up, and now every year I come back and dress up,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople are so kind out here, so respectful, there\u2019s no judging.<\/p>\n \u201cI was nervous the first time, like, I\u2019m a man in a wig, in a regional area, but it\u2019s been the complete opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n Come 5pm, celebrations on the main stage kick off and a steady stream of people arrive at the oval armed with camping chairs and wigs. It doesn\u2019t take long for a hoedown to occur. Couples, families and strangers link arms and twirl on the grass to the thrum of a banjo.<\/p>\n Lucas and his family custom-made T-shirts for the occasion, complete with their names and job titles for the \u201cDolly Department Company\u201d.<\/p>\n His is \u201cdirector of hair and volume\u201d, while his partner, Scott, is \u201cchief vibes officer\u201d. The pair travelled from Sydney with Lucas\u2019 sister and her two children.<\/p>\n \u201cWe decided literally a year ago to all come along together \u2026 but it\u2019s even more special now after her passing to be able to come and celebrate,\u201d Lucas says.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure there\u2019ll be many drinks and many sing-alongs tonight. It\u2019s the soul behind her songs we love \u2013 just warming and inclusive<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n An eclectic cast of Dollys<\/p>\n Soon, darkness will descend, lipstick will smudge and cowboy hats may be lost. But first, a best-dressed winner must be crowned. And who better to lead the proceedings than the drag queen Timberlina, who grew up in regional NSW and has emceed the festival for the past five years.<\/p>\n In true Dolly fashion, she arrives in a vintage car and snatched rainbow dress, waving regally.<\/p>\n