RACHEL SZALAY is one of our featured artist in the INDUSTRIAL LITHGOW exhibition.
On now till May 20.

Start getting excited because there are exciting activities for the whole family on the LithGlow weekend. For one special night only at Lithgow Blast Furnace Park see the projection and laser show produced by international award winning entertainment company Laservision, as well as Aussie Night Markets on Saturday 11th May.
Friday 10th of May is 'Fire and Ice' at The Foundations Portland. For all the information of everything to see and do during LithGlow head to lithglow.lithgow.com

Laservision MegaMedia Lithgow2790.com Lithgow Mercury The Village Voice The Foundations, Portland NSW Visit NSW Lithgow Halloween Western Advocate Mudgee Guardian Blue Mountains Gazette Move FM 2LT Tourism NSW Tourism Australia ... See more

ANZAC DAY - Thursday - April 25th .... PORTLAND RSL CLUB.....

. 6am - Dawn Service

. Breakfast at Club after - All Welcome

. 11am - Anzac March

. Light lunch provided by Portland RSL Club - All Welcome

. TWO UP - 3pm to 11pm .... ... See more

Put May 10 in your diary when the Foundations in Portland hosts another night of fun like this.

Ladies & Gentlemen,
I present to you, the 20th annual Lithgow Ironfest 2019 Once Upon a Time Program

Please note that while the following information is correct & accurate at the time of posting 🧐, it is nevertheless, subject to change without notice 😌.

The Ironfest Tourney Ground
Located immediately in front of the Grand Stand & adjacent to the Battle Ground (so close that they share a single place in the schedule 🤼‍♂️); the Tourney Ground is where lords on conveyances settle their differences ... 🤨
And being the prime Lithgow Showground real estate that it is, the Tourney Ground is quite often host to what can only be called 'unscheduled multi-epoch improvised posturing' (please don't ask me to explain) ...
The two day scheduled activities on the Tourney Ground begin at 10.30 with the Combined Timeline (multi-epoch) Firepower salute (which is a blast 😁), followed at 11am by the Equestrian Skill at Arms (mounted warriors displaying their fighting skills)
At 11.30am things get a bit weird (from an historical perspective) when Knights on horseback take on armoured vehicles 😲 ...
A small break, then at (a new time) 12.30pm it's the Grand Melee (which in Latin translates as: 'big brawl' - I'll let you guess what that might mean 😉) followed straight after (well as soon as they remove the bodies anyway) by the C17th siege of 's-Hertogenbosch battle re-enactment (see following for more details) From 2 - 2.15pm there is the Beersheba Light-horse
Commemoration (remembering the famous mounted charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade) followed by the 'mythical' C20th battle of the Western Front re-enactment/demonstration
At 3pm (on Sat) we move away from historical pretense with the Grand Final of Fashion at the fest 🤨🤩🥳; (on Sun) we drop all historical pretense completely when we stage & present: the fantastic: & fantastical: 'Best of Cosplay' $1,000 Grand Prize 🥰🥰🥰
At 3.30 the Joust will take place featuring Justin Holland (the Hunter), Darryl Bossley (Southern H'lands), Tony Hodges (Qld) & one other (TBA) with Andrew Beattie as the Marshal & Richard Halcomb as the Herald - who will emerge as this year's fairy tale victor?

About the C17th siege of 's-Hertogenbosch
The Siege of 's-Hertogenbosch also known as the Siege of Bois-Le-Duc was an action in 1629, during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War in which a Dutch and English army captured the city of 's-Hertogenbosch.[1] The city had been loyal to the King of Spain since 1579 and was part of the Spanish Netherlands.(Wikipedia: read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_%27s-Hertogenbosch

The 'Village' located on the sacred turf of the sports fields at Lithgow Showground👼 was once titled the Ironfest Medieval Village but was invaded by those steampunk barbarians & others of impure time-lines ⏳(like the Romans this year) so became just 'The Village' (but Fb wouldn't allow me to make the name change so now we are in a right mess ... worse than Europe post WW2 ...)
Anyways the Villagers generally arrive early & leave late ... (or is that arrive late & leave early? 😂) ... & generally they're there for both days ... generally... (can you tell I'm avoiding telling you who is going to be there? so many will be 🤪): here's a starting list: Full Flight Birds of Prey; Blue Mountains Archery, Vaangard; the Romans: Legio VI Victrix & IX Hispana, The Shire of Dismal Fogs chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism; the Medieval Archery Society; Einherjar, Live Action Role Play (various groups), Einherjar
Stoccata, Uppsala, Ironguard, Medieval Archery Society, Bujinkan Ninjas, Historical Equestrian Games Australia
The Order, Sutherland Medieval Regiment, Midgard Designs & Faemorgaine Leather ... 😲
Also located out on the hallowed turf of the sports fields 😁 are those aforementioned (& accursed or is that too harsh?) steam-punkers who defy definition but who continue to grow in numbers with Sanjex Seratti this year setting up camp next to the Airship Sirius crew - who will be setting up next to ... the Steam Engines (who have names ... don't they David Toyne?) & performing, amongst other things, Parasol duelling (Sat) & Tea duelling (Sun) both at 11am: surgery at 1 - 1.30pm Sat., some uber-theatre at 2.15 & just generally having fun & playing games the whole time 🙃

The Village (Part 2)
change change change ...
When peeps have walked out onto the field, traditionally, they have had only one option: to go straight ahead ...
then last year we made a side road; people could turn right & walk along for 200m or so, down a cul-de-sac, to see the steam engines & other machines & a few stalls; but then they had to turn back around 😢
Not any more: we have built a ring-road (un-tolled I might add 🤪) & so now peeps have a choice: they can still go straight ahead & eventually, they will do a great big loop & end up back where they started; or they can turn right & continue on until they also return to where they started ...
so now the question is: are you a clockwise person or an anti-clockwise person?🧐
while we're talking about change ...
you are standing (on the grass😶) just inside the Toni Luchetti sports field; the C20th Camp surrounds you on both sides; you are looking west (maybe a little more west-nor-west to be exact) &: 'oh look: there's something a bit different!" 🤤
and you would be entirely correct:
in the place traditionally inhabited by the C19th reenactors ( English Red Coats; French Napoleonics & then last year: American Civil warriors) a devolution has occurred: we have aged 200 years! Enter C17th Europe; specifically the Netherlands in conflict with Hapsburg Spain: a flamboyant epoch where colour & fashion were more important than military prowess; where 'going out in style' was more important than 'not going out at all' 🙃
Here's a word from our correspondent at the front:
"The early 17th Century was a crossroads in the development of warfare. Armoured cavalry and infantry still dominated the battlefield. The era of Pike and Shot witnessed innovation and reflection blending the ideas of Ancient writers and the latest arms. Compagnie Batavia 1600-1630, Company of the Cross, Gold Trails, Scottish Soldier, the 73rd, The Pike and Musket Society of NSW, NSWCOM and 1ER Artillery will work together to bring to life the early 17th century through staging a daily reenactment of the siege of 's-Hertogenbosch (1 - 1.30 both days in front of the Grand Stand); demonstrating siege life through bivouacs, drill, cooking, musket firing and daily parades. This is an exciting development at Ironfest as this represents the largest gathering of 17th Century reenactors ever in Australia and the first staged 17th Century battle reenactment"

The C20th Camp
I'm pretty sure it was in the C20th that everything started to go wrong ... And right on cue in comments:
Tammy Maree: "What about the Wastelanders?"
Throughout time immemorial there have been stories about the end of the world coming but it was only in the C20th that people really started to, both: 1) start to prepare for it (prepers have existed in different forms for many centuries: probably as long as the prophecies of doom have been around) but & 2) start depicting what it could look like eg Mad Max etc & Tammy Maree Dylan Bushell & friends (please tag) - living the dream guys 👹 ... working backwards from the outer edge where the wastelanders will be located (not far from the steam engines), in a clockwise direction (just past the steampunk camps) newcomers; the Australian Battle Group, who re-enact early C20th naval battle encounters using model boats - they build this large pond & float their boats on it ... then sink them ⚓️⚓️⚓️ - 'Ahrr - I can feel the pirates coming'
next: the NSW Military Re-enactment Unit displays & demos: focus on Vietnam & later C20th military history;
& then Lithgow Living History 🤪 ... presenting such a melange of disparate eras & epochs; including the C19th, the C20th, steampunk & even fantasy, that they deserve a post in their own right 😮 but luckily for me, as well as having a pretty good summary of everything they do on their Fb page; the pigeon has arrived with a message from the general himself:
"Lithgow Living History presents WWII Australian impressions, with a focus on the desert war. Historic accurate military vehicles. Artillery pieces, the arch enemy of the opposition tanks and aircraft. Also an 18th century British encampment in Australia, with demonstrations of arms and lost trades of the early colony. Our phantasmagoria sections of traditionally made cycling machines, imaginary ones as well and fantasy landscapes can be found roving around the Fest." ...
So as you head out onto the fields all these groups are on your right in reverse order: on your immediate left will be Ausreenact whose incredibly accurate displays portray both sides of the WWII conflict:
A message from the Ausreenact front:
"Ausreenact is once again looking forward to another Ironfest festival. For the past 10 years Ausreenact and its detailed and accurate living history displays have been a feature of this eclectic festival. Ausreenact, through accurate uniforms and meticulously put together displays will transport you to a bygone era. Our living history displays will educate and entertain the visiting public. Also our club is proud to once again team up with the Australian Armored Vehicles Association with the purpose of providing entertainment and accurate battle re-enactments. Come to our display area and see some amazing vintage military vehicles that once upon a time thundered across many corners of the world. You will also see many re-enactors doing drill, patrols and doing day-to-day activities using original and reproduction equipment from WW2. Make sure you come and meet the boys and girls from Ausreenact, the World War Two Re-enactment Club of Australia." - around & sort of behind Ausreenact (adjacent to the Tourney Ground): the Australian Armoured Vehicle Assn display which will include among a number of vehicles: a Ferret armoured car; a Saracen six-wheeled armoured personnel carrier, a Stuart tank; & for the first time: a WWII era M4 Panza tank (all 44 tonnes of which is being shipped down from Qld)

The Common is the big grassy area in front of the Ballroom on the western side - it's the home of the Big Bands; has a naughty corner 👀; and is where the Space Cowboy does his thing starting at 11.30am (both days) ... but wait just one moment ...what is this 'naughty corner' of which we speak? 🤔
Starting at 11am (both days) at sporadic intervals (making way for other events), the Burlesque Bandwagon with host Michael Wheatley & featuring Miss Kelly Ann Doll, Artemis Seven, Jacida, The Tasteless Gentleman & Ty Poi will perform a series of revealing entertainments for your adult pleasure 😲
(Please note: while this event is nicely tucked away in the corner of the Common & not easily accessed by younger persons it is not totally inaccessible either - Parental Guidance Recommended) ...
But before we starting getting naughty we must travel back to Sat 10.30am when Lithgow Councillor Maree Statham's Fashion at the Fest kicks off with the first of two heats; the 2nd at 1.30pm (final to be held in front of the Grand Stand at 3pm) neatly bracketing the the Bathurst City Band at 12 noon; on Sun it will be the Lithgow City Band - at 1pm on Sun it's the Blue Mntns City & RSL Band; at 2pm - 3pm on Sat: drum roll: it's the amazing NSW Fire & Rescue Marching Band followed by the also amazing Space Cowboy (Sat & Sun) at 3pm (or whenever the band finally yields); & then it's the Highland Pipe Band (we really have wedged the Space Cowboy 😮); then it's back to the naughty corner until the Parade with the Highland Band leading the charge to the 'All-in Photo-shoot' (everyone in costume welcome) followed by the Ironfest 2020 'Theme Reveal' to be all concluded, 'around 5.30 - 6pm' when the Space Cowboy mounts up once again; then the Carnivale Fire Show Sat Finale ends the festival at 7pm

so what's going on in the Kid's Kingdom?
Let's summarise: The Kid's Kingdom is a new event in a new location on the north western side of the Showground & home to the Carnival Ironfest tent (formerly the dance tent)
Inside the tent (& let's face it folks: it's much better to be inside than outside the tent 😉) peeps will find members of NSW Story-tellers Guild: Jill Webster, Kiran Shah, Ulf Nilsson and Lindy Mitchell-Nilsson telling stories both days from 10am - 1pm
Outside, right next to the tent, you will find the wonderful Rosa Carruthers & her Petting Zoo; next to her: the Friendly Furrie Gang; then the Kid's Boffa; the Dog & Monocle wand making peeps, and across the way, the ginger bread house; Mermaid Tempest & Friends; face painting, stalls with kid's things; food for kids; Vicki Hartley as the Fairy God Mother (Sat) & then back in the Carnivale tent, in the afternoon, both days, from 1 - 4pm, Terry the Great, Buzz Killington & Mystery Michael will be presenting the inaugural Carnivale Freak Show

The Cottage Stage is a relatively new venue, hidden in plain site the Showground Care Takers cottage has been in place probably for close to 100 years but was only discovered as a potential venue a couple of years ago (only after about 15 Ironfest events 🤪)
Located about 50m in from the main gate (towards the Ballroom) the Cottage program kicks off at 10am Sat with Wild Man Brun’s Psychedelic Lunacy Hour; followed by Ian McLeod’s Caw-Caw the Story Teller; then Hawk-Kestral; Ian McLeod again; Sheik, Rattle & Roll & Penelope Firetruck’s Heart Songs
Visit Ironfest Cottage Stage for more info inc times for each act

Bohemia
'Bohemia!?' I hear you ask: 'where the hell is 'Bohemia' 😰
Well no big mystery there: 'Bohemia' (apart from being a region in the People's Republic of Germany) is the new name for last year's 'Argoseum' - it's where the Ironfest Cosplay competition was last year & will be again this year - in the area once known as the Southern Steppes (only the old timers remember that Boris Hunt) adjacent to the Skate Park ... & with a whole lot of new shows as well as some of our old favourites, Bohemia is going to go off!
Starting in the morning at 9.30 we'll be kicking off with the local Lithgow Highland Dancers group (Sat) & the Bathurst Belly Dancing group Bashira, followed by the Steampunk Vagabonds at 10am (both days); then the Orange Tribal BD group (both days) & Azzire BD group (Sun)
At 11am (both days) this year's Cosplay competition will kick off with Pat Michael Hamilton & Jaden Lee hosting; & Doug Marr, Dave Barnes, Jen Nicolea & Nathan Soden as judges & 1pm finish (but there will be some more cosplay comp action taking place in front of the Grand Stand at 3pm Sun with the $1000 Best of Ironfest Cosplay Grand Prize to be announced!!) - anyways back to Bohemia ...
After the Cosplay at 1pm on Sat more dance with Bashira Bathurst BD, Elysian Butterfly (Lenora Goodaire) with Nic & Lyz supporting; then Embrace BD, Ghawazi Caravan, Bronwyn Buasavahn & Erin Muir; followed by Orange Tribal Belly Dance, the Shimmy Sisters & some improvised dance to end the day on Sat at 4pm to be in time to get ready for the Ironfest Parade at 4.30pm. On the Sunday following the Cosplay at 1pm we have an exciting new event: Salón Flamenco featuring acclaimed international dancers: Tomas Arroquerro, Maree Laffan, Lisa Mariss & Annalouise Paul; ending at 4pm

The Roving Acts program this year is as fantastic as usual (if not more fantastic), with some new acts; some old acts & some new old acts 🤔 - no point in putting in times here, except to say that they'll be there both days ... & no point in putting in places (obviously 🤪) ...
so here they are: our old 'that's amazing' friend: Griego the Magician is back 🧙‍♂️; the tireless & never missed an Ironfest: Stoney Broke Band 👊; the Blue Mountains City Stompers 🎷; John Kitchen’s Vintage Bikes 🎩; the Flying Dutchman cycle team with the ship and Pinocchios 🤥; Matthew Dennet & his Piano Accordion 🎹; multi-epoch Wayward Music 🎼; the Icarus stilt walkers 🦘, Simon Watts the wandering Violinist 🎻& numerous members (maybe 20 plus) of the Friendly Furry Gang 🐶 with Elliot D. Dinosaur & Lord Darius

The Wrestling Shed was the Ironfest Makers shed last year before the Makers were all wrestled out 😵 as Pro-wrestling makes a return & is back in the Shed (right next door to the Ironfest Blacksmiths)
And it's a wonderful program once again put together by Marek Indyka from Blue Mountains Pro Wrestling - the first bout starts at 11am on Sat with DB Roberton taking on Dean Draven; then following it's Alastair
McKlir V Roswell & then Guijarro V Jengis Kong - after a short break (to clean up the blood - just joking 🤪) at 1pm it's The Misfit V's The Buccaneer (sure to be epic) followed by the Triple Threat match for the Lithgow Valley Cup (with Ace Fenton as the special referee) - then after another break (to catch our breaths 😇) 'Le Grand' Grudge Match (participants TBA) at 3pm
On Sun the energy starts to build early in the Shed with a non wrestling event: the Big Yard Big Band starting off at 10 - 11am followed immediately with Keegan Brette taking on Lex Lennock; then Ricky South V the Big Fudge
At 1pm Jasmin Vittoria takes on Mindy Melt- down in an all women's clash; followed as well by the Triple Threat match for the Lithgow Valley Cup (with Ace Fenton as the special referee) & at 3 - 4pm we have the Tag Team bout with participants TBA

For updates & more detailed information about any/all of the contestants head on over to the Blue Mountains Pro Wrestling page here: https://www.facebook.com/bluemountainsprowrestling/

Special Events (every event at Ironfest is special 🙂)
But this is where we list those events that may or may not get mentioned in the general Ironfest schedule - they may (or may not) be square pegs ... but they will always remain: special ... to us 😘
Probably the most 'special' of all the events is (are?) the Ironfest Stalls: over 140 quality stalls of amazing diversity spread over the whole festival site including boutique products such as wine, woodwork, jewellery, clothing, artwork, small goods, metal work, mead, plants, produce, sweets, glassware, antiques & much much more ...
And how aren't the blacksmiths special? presented by the NSW Artist Blacksmiths Assn find Nigel Stokes, Craig Drew, Don Gabriel, Dave Stubbs, Denise Darwen, Wayne Saunders, Anthony Fitzgerald, Tony Cook, Jim Docherty, Ray Gard, Corin Urqhart, Bjorn Jacobson, Daryl Milton, Wayne Wagstaff & others banging on in the Hall of Industry
Another very special event, also spread around the site is Ironfest Machines, from the power hammers in the Ironfest Blacksmiths shed; to the old tractors put out by David Peters from the Lithgow Show next door to those amazing steam engines (with names) brought from Oberon by David Toyne & friends; then there are those beautiful Cobras brought up by the Ford Cobra Car Club guys (on Sat) & the vintage & classic cars from the Blue Mountains Vintage & Classic Car Club (Sun); & there's those beautiful buses down by the entry to the Kid's Kingdom (see photo) and there's always an eclectic array of machines sprinkled around that just in-explicitly turn up ... & of course there's the awesomely fearsome Australian Armoured Vehicles Assn (did I mention that a Panzer Mark 4 tank was coming down from Qld this year?)
It's always fraught to label any one event at Ironfest as 'the most special' because then you remember there's a Parade 😍😍😍 a little later this year at 4.30 - everyone in costume invited to join in: muster at 4.15 on the track at the east end of the Ironfest Tourney Ground - the Parade loops once around the site & then returns back to whence it has come for a new innovation: the all-in photo-shoot with our official guest photographer for this year: Brigitte Grant (all other photographers are welcome to join in as well) & the Ironfest 2020 'Mystery Theme Reveal' all to take place in front of the Grand Stand ...
There's the Ironfest 2019 Once Upon a Time Pre-view event: Friday 3 - 6pm - $5 per person entry
And some other Special Events:
The Front Gate: with Rich Evans; Tim Johnman & Harpist: Martin Cook
Glass Making with Keith Rowe & Kayo Yokoyama
(just outside the Wrestling Shed)
Stone cutting, Pottery making demonstrations & Origami making demonstrations & workshops: adjacent to the Blacksmiths
Colonial wood-working, bucket-making & crayon making demonstrations in the Lithgow Living History Camp
traditional woood working demonstrations with the Leura Bodger - Quality antiques in the Collectibles Shed
The Doggy Dress up Competition: Sat at 1.30pm
@ the Petting Zoo: Kid's Kingdom
Mermaid Tempest & Friends in the Kid’s Kingdom
Snake Shows with Neville Burns: Sat: 11, 1.30, 3 & 5 & Sun: 10, 11, 1.30 & 3 - close to the entry to the Kid's Kingdom
The Sydney Robotics Workshop on the inside stage – all festival - Jane Canfield - plein air artist - next to the Bohemia tent - Salón Flamenco with Tomas Arroquerro, Maree Laffan
Lisa Mariss & Annalouise Paul in the Bohemia tent
(1pm - 4pm Sunday only) - The combined Airship Sirius Crew & Sanjex Seratti with Skav's Workshop in the Ironfest Steampunk Camp - with Parasol duelling (Sat) & Tea duelling (Sun) at 11am - appropriately placed next to the Steam Engines with names in the Village - all festival

This very excellent photo was taken by Brigitte Grant at the Ironfest 2019 Pre-festival Photo-shoot in Lithgow Main St this Feb ... See more

The Ironfest 2019 Once Upon a Time was created by Emily Gill Wilson with titles by Raine Doyle - the schedule is available by clicking on the link in comments

In the twentieth year of the reign of the Kingdom, all creatures great and small, all clans, civilised and wild, are heralded to gather to create the magical story of "Ironfest - Once Upon a Time" in this, the twentieth year of The Kingdom of Ironfest 2019.

Join us at Lithgow Showground on Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th April for the Ironfest 2019. ... See more

Fantastic news this afternoon with Deputy Premier @johnbarilaro & @paul.toole.33 visiting the Foundations and committing $500,000 towards the redevelopment of the #annexe building to house #MOCZA! It’s now official, #portlandnsw will be home to this amazing museum! ... See more

🎶 MARCH 2019 - Entertainment...

Bill and Sharon Coleman welcome you to the Highlands Motor Inn Oberon. A 4 star motel located on the outskirts of the picturesque Blue Mountains.