Dollywood down under: Dolly Parton fans and drag queens turn a tiny Australian town pink

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.

As the sun begins to set, Jim Beams are flowing and music is blaring. One lucky punter is about to be crowned this year’s best-dressed Dolly, complete with sash, trophy and bragging rights.

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’s largest (and only) Dolly Parton festival.

This is the fifth year the tribute festival has been running and the first to take place since the country music legend died in August. A record 1,600 tickets have been sold – equivalent to just under half of Narromine’s population.

Many in the crowd wear memorial tribute T-shirts, reading: “We will always love you, Dolly”, and “forever and always”.

Jen Ballhausen, a local resident, has volunteered on the festival’s 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.

“It was a fun group of people, mostly women, that had a common goal to provide something for the community, to support our community,” she says.

It was a super fan volunteer who suggested a Dolly homage, and the committee figured it was a no-brainer. “We needed a female icon,” Ballhausen says.

“The first year was overwhelming … the number of people that got dressed up, we were walking around going, ‘Holy moly, this is going to work.’

“We knew we’d set a bar, and this year has well and truly exceeded it. It just gets our town on the map … to not write off a little town. If we can at least highlight that small towns are great little communities, then we’ve won.”

A town doused in rhinestones

It’s been a long day. The party starts at 9.30am in Narromine’s 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’s beaming face is everywhere: plastered on to windows, on the top of cupcakes and merchandise.

There are line dancers, drag queens and children from the local primary school performing a stirring rendition of Baby I’m Burnin’, complete with pom poms.

The temperature quickly climbs to 30C and those in Dolly-drag wipe makeup-laden sweat from their faces.

Narromine is 40km west of Dubbo and hundreds of kilometres inland – hot, flat country, and the shade awnings provide little reprieve. Some opt for tea towels to emulate Dolly’s cleavage in place of silicone to avoid overheating.

Wynonah Dove, performing on Saturday evening as a Dolly impersonator, says Parton’s sudden death has made the event “especially poignant”.

“When Dolly passed, we had our first rehearsals the day after, and it was hard, I had trouble even singing the songs,” she says between tears.

“I just feel she’s here with us, any time there is love, light and inclusiveness being celebrated, she’s here in spirit.”

Dove grew up in Tennessee, from a working-class background similar to Parton’s. She recalled going a year without running water, “dirt poor”, and says that thanks to Parton and her extensive work, the local economy exploded.

“She just wanted to make the world a better place,” she says. “None of us could afford to go on vacation, so we all went to Dollywood … Everyone felt like she was our best friend, and we didn’t even know her.”

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 rosé in its wake.

Among them is Nikolaas Kostraby – AKA Dolly Delicious – 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’s on the committee and is a judge.

“I 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,” he says. “People are so kind out here, so respectful, there’s no judging.

“I was nervous the first time, like, I’m a man in a wig, in a regional area, but it’s been the complete opposite.”

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’t take long for a hoedown to occur. Couples, families and strangers link arms and twirl on the grass to the thrum of a banjo.

Lucas and his family custom-made T-shirts for the occasion, complete with their names and job titles for the “Dolly Department Company”.

His is “director of hair and volume”, while his partner, Scott, is “chief vibes officer”. The pair travelled from Sydney with Lucas’ sister and her two children.

“We decided literally a year ago to all come along together … but it’s even more special now after her passing to be able to come and celebrate,” Lucas says.

“I’m sure there’ll be many drinks and many sing-alongs tonight. It’s the soul behind her songs we love – just warming and inclusive.”

An eclectic cast of Dollys

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.

In true Dolly fashion, she arrives in a vintage car and snatched rainbow dress, waving regally.

Children are judged first, then comes the best-dressed Kenny, a homage to Parton’s longtime collaborator Kenny Rogers. There are three finalists, including a man dressed as Woody from Toy Story.

Then the Dollys flock to the red carpet, as diverse and eclectic as the singer’s own career. One woman rides a blow-up horse. A small child somehow makes her way on to the stage. Fake breasts jut out of tight dresses like bowling balls waiting to be freed.

Dolly Delicious, sporting her victory sash from 2023, slowly walks among them, eventually landing on Colin Marshall – who is part of a tour group of 30 people who have travelled to Narromine from Brisbane. The tour is run by Fun Over 50 Holidays, and he isn’t the only man who has come in drag.

“It wasn’t just the look, it was the warmth, the attitude,” Dolly Delicious tells the crowd. Marshall booms: “Over 50s!”

His wife, Leanne, crafted his outfit. He is wearing a hot pink tasselled dress, a blond wig, a cowboy hat, heels and large sunglasses, and accepts his sash as though it’s an inevitability.

For a full minute, Marshall sashays along the runway, swinging his arms with abandon. I ask him how it feels to win. “Good, great,” he replies.