Picnic Day is a public holiday in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

of Australia which takes place every year on the first Monday of August.

History

Picnic Day events in the Northern Territory date back to the late 1800s. They were held in a variety of locations such as

Adelaide River The Adelaide River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia. Course and features The river rises in the Litchfield National Park and flows generally northwards to Clarence Strait, joined by eight tributaries including the west branc ...

Brunette Downs Station Brunette Downs Station, mostly referred to as Brunette Downs, is a pastoral lease operating as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. Location Brunette Downs Station is located in the Northern Territory about north-ea ...

and Glencoe Paddock at differing times of year. A regular annual Union Picnic Day or Trade Picnic Day was observed at

by railway employees working on the

North Australia Railway The North Australia Railway was a narrow gauge railway in the Northern Territory of Australia which ran from the territory capital of Darwin, once known as Palmerston, to Birdum, just south of Larrimah. Initially its name was the ''Palmerst ...

. The date of the first event is not known. The event included Public Works employees on some occasions. Between 1926 and 1935 a railway Picnic Day event was not held. An attempt was made to revive the holiday in 1933, but it was not officially observed again until three years later. On Monday 5 October 1936, a train transported people from Darwin to Adelaide River, leaving at 7 am returning at 11 pm. The hotel at Adelaide River recorded record sales and the train was "forced to stop often as a number of male Darwin passengers fell off at various points along the line". The

Harts Range Harts Range is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia located on the Plenty Highway by road northeast of Alice Springs. Most of its population are of Aboriginal descent, residing in the nearby community of Atitjere. Since 1947, each y ...

Races in Central Australia are held each Picnic Day long weekend. The races began in 1946, when three brothers Bennett, Qinton and Kil Webb from

Mount Riddock Station Mount Riddock Station is a 2,633 square kilometre cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is managed by Steve and Rebecca Cadzow. They run Poll Herefords on the property, which has organic certification. Early history Easte ...

raced stockman Jack Schaber and the regional policeman Senior Constable Bob Darken over a distance of about a mile to the Ulgarna Yards to determine who had the fastest horse. The event inspired the first formal racing meet at Harts Range in November 1947. It became an annual event.

Notes

References

{{Public holidays in Australia Culture of the Northern Territory Public holidays in Australia August observances Holidays and observances by scheduling (nth weekday of the month) Day (Australian holiday)