The Upper Murray festival dedicated to high country history has likened the impact of brumby culls to the 2020 bushfires and COVID-19.
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Posting to their Facebook page the Man From Snowy River Bush Festival said decision to kill the feral horses was "wrong on so many levels" and called for the public to "make noise" about the issue.
"Anyone who has been to our festival, anyone who has seen brumbies in the wild, watched the Man From Snowy River movie, saw the opening of the Sydney Olympic Games would understand what horses mean to this country," the post said.
"The annihilation of brumbies from the Victorian National Parks is right up there beside the horrendous bushfires and what COVID-19 is doing to our country
"How can you use an animal to represent their national identity then justify shooting them in their natural habitat in some slewed vain attempt of protecting the environment?
"The animals that truly are doing irreparable damage are the pigs and deer, but the horses are the easier target. This is not management."
Festival manager Jenny Boardman said while she agrees there needs to be more management of the wild animals, killing them wasn't the solution.
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"I just think there are other ways to control the brumbies and the only way we can get anything done is by being vocal about it," she said.
"The festival runs an event called The Brumby Catch using domestically bred horses simply because we were not allowed to take horses from the national parks.
"The skills demonstrated by our Horsemanship Challenge represent the heritage of age old skills used to capture horses that in the day, went on to serve in the lighthorse and over the years have served Australians in so many different ways.
"Brumbies have a history and a heritage that should be preserved."
Ms Boardman said the festival asked anyone "who cares about these beautiful animals" to contact their local member and sign the change.org petition.
