The Glen Innes Services Club is in the running to win a Clubs NSW award for last year's Outlandish Gathering.
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Events and entertainment manager Julie Clement, the brains behind the 2018 event, said the club was up for its second arts and culture prize, after winning the state-wide award in 2017 for the Celtic Music Awards.
They would be one of the few clubs in the competition to be nominated for an event they had produced from start to finish.
The event, held in October 2018, celebrated the Scottish-themed TV show Outlander, welcoming 578 obsessives to Glen Innes from as far as the US, Germany, Afghanistan, and even Scotland itself.
She said it would be nice to win, but wasn't claiming the prize yet.
"We're very happy to be a finalist because we've been recognised for the actual work that went into Outlandish," she said.
It was a massive job, she said, done on a budget with tight timing and many moving parts.
The key word was authenticity. From period dress to correct food to dressing up the town's finest establishments as a perfect replica of the show's set, everything had to perfect for the potentially loyal uber-fans.
She described the most cinematic moment of the gathering - a pre-dawn lantern dance, which mirrors an event from the show
"It was so stressful to get that timing right and the lighting right. We had almost 600 people get off busses all at once and we had the lantern girls escort everyone to their spot on the grass to watch this.
"Next thing, like magic a blanket of fog settled over Glen Innes. For half an hour it looked like Scotland; it gives me goosebumps now when I think about it.
"It was a very special event."
The gathering featured Australian actor David Berry, who plays Lord John Grey.
They even held a legal wedding, a replica of another scene from the show.
Will there ever be another Outlandish fan gathering?
The town's businesses would be right to ask the question - the event brought in an estimated $280,000 to Glen Innes.
Julie Clement said it's not impossible to hold a reunion event for Outlander fans, but will leave it up to them to organise a date.
The awards ceremony will be held in November.
Andrew Messenger
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
