Boolarra, Victoria

Boolarra is a small township located in the Latrobe Valley, in central Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. At the 2006 census, Boolarra had a population of 528 (The postcode area had a population of 1119 which includes the nearby town of Yinnar). The Boolarra Folk Festival is held in the town every year in March and attracts music lovers from around Australia and the world. The town is also infamous for producing the Boolarra strain of carp (Cyprinus carpio) which, after their release into the Murray River near Mildura, spread throughout Australia.The name Boolarra is believed to be derived from an expression in one of the local Aboriginal languages meaning 'plentiful' or 'twenty'. The Post Office opened on 1 September 1884 prior to the railway arriving in 1885.The town is at one end of the Grand Ridge Rail Trail, which travels for 13 kilometres through temperate rainforest and dry sclerophyll forest in the Strzelecki Ranges. The original railway branch line from Morwell to Boolarra, was opened on 10 April 1885, with the last train being run on 22 June 1974. The railway was constructed through difficult hilly terrain requiring construction of massive embankments and numerous bridges.The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Mid Gippsland Football League.