Heading to the muster for the first time, Mr Besgrove was surprised that a gathering of utes could attract more than 18,000 people.

Describing himself as the Southcity Bulls’ biggest supporter, Mr Besgrove was in no doubt about what he’d be doing next year.

“It’s an eye-opening experience, I thought there would be a lot of utes, but I didn’t understand how big it actually was,” he said.

“Cold Chisel was unforgettable.”

The muster this year played host to 5988 utes while 3959 people pulled the iconic blue singlet over their heads and for the first time, there were more than 5000 caravans and mobile homes.

Among the guests was Ben Lehmann and Melissa Maybery from Alice Springs, who drove from the nation’s centre to visit family and the muster.

“We drove down from the NT and bought a new ute in Adelaide and drove over from there,” Mr Lehmann said.

Keen to get underneath his new ute to add some character to it, Mr Lehmann said everyone from patrons to security had spent time chatting to the crew of four from the Territory.

“It’s weird driving from three hours from Horsham to Deniliquin,” Mr Lehmann said.

“In the Territory, it’s either 15 minutes to the other side of town or 15 hours to another city.”

“It’s totally worth the drive down, you can’t come down to the muster without your ute,” Ms Maybery said.

Would they make the journey again? Absolutely.

“We promise our patrons a “bucket list” experience and this year excelled on all fronts,” muster general manager Kate Pitt said.

“The weather was spectacular as was the music and on ground entertainment.”