MORE than 20,000 revellers shivered, squelched and celebrated all things country at the 11th annual Deniliquin Ute Muster at the weekend.
Engines revved and horns tooted as ute lovers sought refuge from the rain in their vehicles on Friday, the first day of the muster.
Hundreds of visitors camped outside the festival site gates on Thursday night to secure a good spot in the ute paddock when gates opened at 6am on Friday.
Once inside, Eskies were stocked, swags unrolled and Aussie flags hoisted, as ute speakers blared Slim Dusty, Kylie Minogue and everything in between.
Strangers soon became mates as firewood, tent pegs and tomato sauce was shared between neighbouring campsites.
Wind and rain forced organisers to call off a world record attempt for the largest parade of legally-registered utes.
Deniliquin already holds the record of 2839 utes, but organisers hoped to boost that figure after more than 7000 utes turned out for the muster last year.
Despite the damp weather, 2230 attendees stripped down on Saturday to set a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people wearing blue shearers singlets.
Robert Martin from Horsley, NSW, took home the Ute of the Year title for his impressive 2006 Holden VZ.
Last year, the muster generated $13 million in spending for the region.
