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Main St comes alive with blacksmithing
demonstrations during the first Ironfest in 2000.
The brainchild of artist/sculptor and present festival director, Macgregor Ross, Ironfest was first held in April of 2000 to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the birth of steel in Australia, in Lithgow.
Comprising of an exhibition of metal sculpture, paintings and drawings accompanied by blacksmith demonstrations by artist blacksmith Harry Piers, and metal music by local band, ‘The Mullpigs; around 25 artists participated and approximately 400 visitors attended.
As they say: ‘from small things, big things grow’, and the following year Ironfest doubled in size.
Indeed, since its humble beginnings, Ironfest has been one of the fastest growing events in regional Australia.
Today, Ironfest is managed by Ironfest Inc a registered incorporated not for profit association and can lay claim to being the largest annual cultural event in the Central West/ Blue Mountains region of NSW.
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The second Ironfest, held over the last weekend of April 28 & 29, was held in various galleries and heritage attractions around the Lithgow District: Talisman Gallery, Hartley Valley Nursery, Aldgate Gallery, the Old Lithgow Pottery, The Terrace Gallery, Lynes Ross @ 17 Main (then called the Paris End Gallery), and The Small Arms Museum.
The event, which comprised of displays of sculpture, handmade furniture, knives and armour, jewellery, museum exhibits: accompanied by medieval re-enactments and musical performances, was largely organised by Ron FitzPatrick, & Macgregor Ross. Approximately 40 artists were involved and (approx.) 1700 visitors attended.
(Past Ironfest Photos)
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The first tapping of steel
at Lithgow in April 25th, 1900.
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Late in 2001 an Ironfest organizing committee was formed comprising of Ray Christison (Lithgow BEC Manager & State Mine Museum Secretary), Ron FitzPatrick (Talisman Gallery), Pam Case (The Terrace Gallery), Lawrence Harris, Alison Lynes (Paris End Gallery), Ian Holt (Lithgow Historical Society), John Oates (State Mine Museum) and Macgregor Ross, with micheal graham (website & documentation) and Adrian Symes (video documentation) supporting.
In 2002 Ironfest was held at the State Mine Heritage Park & Railway, as well as activities at other sites around the District, over the Anzac weekend of April 24 & 25.
Involving over 200 artists, exhibitors, performers, musicians & volunteers; there were approximately 30 artist stalls, 5 demonstrating blacksmiths (including Dave Sherlock, one of the first exhibitors at Ironfest), medieval re-enactment and live music and performance.
Over 3,400* visitors attended.
(Past Ironfest Photos)
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Ironfest 2003 was once again held at the State Mine Heritage Park & Railway. Organized by the same group of people, with the addition of Leanne Hawkins, Ironfest was successful in attracting Tourism NSW funding for promotion, and Festivals Australia funding for the 'Big Bang' Performance. As well as artist stalls, there was music and performance and art making workshops & projects, including the gate project & the river project.
Organized by local blacksmith, Phil Spark, the gate project involved over a dozen metal workers all contributing to the construction of gates for the State Mine Museum. The river project, conducted by Anthony Symmons & Rose Hu, documented farmers Creek and the role the creek played in the development of the District.
In 2003 Ironfest involved over 300 artists, exhibitors, performers, musicians, workshop participants & volunteers. On a weekend of bad weather, Ironfest 2003 attracted 4,300* people.
(*Denotes figure derived from the State Mine Heritage Park & Railway)
(Past Ironfest Photos)
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The Vangarian Guard makes their presence
felt at Ironfest 2003.
Awards: The 4th annual Lithgow District Ironfest was the deserving recipient of three local community awards in 2003. The first being a highly sought after Delta Cultural Award, hosted by the Lithgow Arts Council, for the promotion of the Arts, and the second as runner up as a finalist for the overall annual Delta Cultural Award. Ironfest also received a Lithgow City Council Cultural Heritage Award, a first in the heritage awards history, to go to an event
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 Gateway to Ironfest's new location
at the Lithgow Showgrounds
Awards: For the second year running, Ironfest has won a Delta Cultural Award for the promotion of the Arts in Lithgow, hosted by the Lithgow Arts Council.
Ironfest was also the winner of the prestigious Lithgow Business Award in the 'Travel & Tourism' category. Hosted by the Lithgow Business Association & sponsored by Delta Electricity, this is a strongly contested award & prized highly by the Ironfest committee.
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In 2004 Ironfest moved to a new, more accessible, home at the Lithgow Showground, and was organised primarily by Leanne Hawkins, Alison Lynes & Macgregor Ross, with assistance from Laurie Harris & Ron FitzPatrick, Pam Case, Ariel Elliot, Simon Emptage, Stuart Baird, Rob Adams, micheal graham (website), Andrew Wilson (photographic documentation), Lithgow SES and many others.
Involving substantially more new participants, including many new visual & performing artists, many choirs, two orchestras (one in a shipping container), a colonial re-enactment group, The 73rd Regiment of Foot, 'Fire & Steel' medieval re-enactment group, and the Powerhouse Museum; Ironfest underwent significant growth in 2004, and received rave reviews.
There were also activities held at the Union Theatre, with the Blacksmith Charity Masquerade Ball, as well as in Main Street, Lithgow, with a busking competition.
Total attendance at Ironfest 2004 exceeded 5,100 people.
(Past Ironfest Photos)
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Ironfest 2005, entitled 'Internal Combustion', was held over the unseasonably warm autumn Anzac long weekend of April 23, 24 & 25, and continued an exponential growth trend in festival size.
There were over 800 participants, including members of car clubs from all over Sydney, and NSW.
New participants included the Lithgow Remote Car Club, and their guests from all over the country, competing in the inaugural Ironfest Radio Control Car Club Championship.
Questaconn with SmartMoves presenters were also new to Ironfest in 2005. They joined the Powerhouse Museum as major attractions of the Lithgow Innovation Festival. Their series of presentations on robotics, bio plastics and forensics were very popular.
The Black Grail duo, popular comic medieval re-enactors from Queensland were also new to Ironfest, complimenting the growing contingency of medievalists finding their way to the fest.
The current World Jousting Champion, Rod Walker & his wife, Michelle Walker, of Full Tilt, once again demonstrated the popularity of Jousting in the 21st Century, being easily one of the crowds favourite attractions.
The 73rd Regiment of Foot also turned up in greater numbers. The sound & smell of gunpowder spread around the valley, following volley after volley of cannon and muskets.
One of the high points of the festival was the Night of Fire, with a great performance by Mekanarchy and a fantastic ending created by Howard and Sons pyrotechnics. This was a show that had people talking for ages.
The other night event, An Arabian Night, held at the Union Theatre, was also a sell-out major success, featuring Hyde & Sheik, Arabesque, Kush Kabaret, Ghawazi Caravan and Zhagareet. This really was an exotic night packed full of entertainment.
See Images of IRONFEST 2005
Read an account of the festival
along with photos from the weekend
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A fantastic exotic night of carvival pleasure
comes to Lithgow
The musical line-up for Ironfest 2005 included some great acts, such as Mr Fats & The Bloweys, Toy Death, Dog Water, The Blowflys and Arabesque, to mention just a few.
The nascent MetalFest, held on the Monday, featured Nordvaark, Forty Bends and Flatline Drama and showed a lot of promise. Look out for it in 2006!
And there were some great individual performances by Bob Sutor, Sara Rodriguez, Lester Ives, Craig Battye and Catfish, again to mention only a few.
Visitors to Ironfest 2005 were also treated to an exceptionally wide range of performers including some of the old favourites, Icarus, Flying Pigs Circus, Circus Solarus, belly dancing troupes, Ghawazi Caravan & Zhagareet, newcomers, Gamalan Novo Kastria, Jugglenaut, Pogg and Kush Kabaret.
There were numerous art exhibitions, including an on-site sculpture exhibition, curated by Dragan Kalemusic, the Waste to Art Photographic exhibition and the Metal Worx Exhibition.
All in all Ironfest 2005 was a huge success.
Anyone interested in a copy of the complete program should contact the organizers.
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Show us the way to Ironfest...
Competitions also played a new role with blacksmithing, juggling and clowning competitions very successfully taking place.
In total, there were over 700 participants involved in 2006 and the number of visitors totaled over 7,000 people. (This was the biggest increase in visitor numbers on any previous year ever, representing one of the biggest annual percentage increases (approx 60%).
A survey of visitors to Ironfest, conducted over the whole weekend, found that there was a high degree of experience satisfaction: everyone had a ball!
Another first in 2006 was the support of the CFMEU, who came in as the major sponsor for the year.
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Ironfest 2006 was held over the weekend of April 22 & 23, 2006, at the Lithgow Showground. The weather couldn't have been better: cloudless blue skies, cool at night but heating up during the day.
This was the year of beginnings for Ironfest with the inaugural 'St George's Day Jousting Tournament' and 'The Battle of Lithgow' colonial battle re-enactment taking place.
The Jousting involved a group of riders coming from New Zealand to take on a group from Australia, lead by Full Tilt, to contest the Australasian Championship. This event was run in conjunction with the International Jousting Association and involved the current World Jousting Champion, Rod Walker.
It was won by Rod's wife Michelle Walker.
The 1st 'Battle of Lithgow', a colonial battle re-enactment involving over 80 re-enactors, 3 cannons and four cavalry was also a big success drawing a huge crowd.
On the Lithgow Valley Springs Main Stage there were a few new musical acts including local duo, 'My Heart's Desire', 'Didjuridu Dingo', 'Hid'n Cheek', and 'The Fabulous Truck Bros'; on the Inside Stage, we had new acts, Skorba and Sara Rodriguez.
Another first was the involvement of the two local Blue Mountains circus groups; 'The Ruby Bloomers Women's Circus' and 'Circo Blurto' in 'The Shed'. Both these acts attracted such a huge crowd that it was very hard to set foot in 'The Shed'.
See images of Ironfest 2006
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IRONFEST 2007 CONQURES WET WEATHER
The rain poured down, but still the crowds flooded in to Ironfest 2007.
The festival was opened by the Mayor, Neville Castle, assisted by a couple of medieval clad knights, at a ceremony that included the Federal Member for Calare, Peter Andren, the State Member for Bathurst, Gerard Martin, Federal Member for the Blue Mountains, Kerry Bartlett, the former State Member for Blue Mountains, Bob Debus, Lithgow General Manager, Paul Anderson, and CEO of Blue Mountains Tourism, Kerrie Fryer.
The show was substantially bigger than last year, even though some exhibitors stayed away.
“I was amazed that anyone came on Saturday, because of the weather, but then on Sunday we had our biggest day ever,” Festival Organizer, Macgregor Ross said. “The exact number is still being worked out, but our initial estimate is that we had around 7,000 visitors this year, the same as last,” he continued.
The popularity of this truly unique event just keeps growing.
Crowds fought against driving rain on Saturday, and high winds on Sunday to get out onto the sporting fields at the Showground, to see the 2nd annual Battle of Lithgow, colonial re-enactment, while others watched from the distance being seated in the Grand Strand which gave little shelter.
Many of the colonial participants thought the weather added some very English-like authenticity.
See images of Ironfest 2007
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The Jousting experienced some of the best weather, with the sun making brief appearances on both occasions on the Saturday, but had to contend with mud under hoof.
The jam-packed entertainment program was thrown into turmoil when two of the five stages had to be closed due to the rain, and dance, music and performance acts had to be rescheduled and relocated.
The artists all worked together, made adjustments, and the Show went on, and the visitors experienced a fantastic event.
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The biggest crowds seen in the Lithgow Showground in decades were experienced at the weekend when Ironfest 2008 took centre stage.
It was the sort of crowds not seen at the showground since the old Festivals of the Valley more than 40 years ago.
It was crowds that football promoters would die for.
And it was the turnout that those superb Blues Music Festivals of a few years back had hoped for but never achieved.
Ironfest has come a long way since its humble beginnings as a collection of street stalls in Lithgow's east end and the three day extravaganza over the Anzac break again cemented the festival as one of the biggest public entertainment festivals anywhere in the Blue Mountains or Central West.
Clearly this year's Ironfest was the most successful yet.
Importantly it attracted literally thousands of visitors to Lithgow.
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Saturday was the biggest single day with wall to wall people thronging the showground area.
An SES spokesman told the Mercury that by early Saturday afternoon his members had parked more than 1000 vehicles on the nearby Watsford and Conran Ovals.
Members of the organising committee were yesterday still working on their final figures but on Sunday afternoon the convenor Macgregor Ross told the media that more than 10,000 paying customers had been registered.
Interestingly the gatekeepers from Lithgow Lions conducted a straw poll that led them to estimate that more than 80 per cent of patrons were from outside Lithgow.
This was borne out by the Blue Mountains Greens stand in the main pavilion where a petition opposing privatisation of the electricity industry attracted signatures with addresses from the Sydney area through to Dubbo.
A significant number of interstate visitors also came for Ironfest.
They were treated to a superb variety of live entertainment and static exhibits that provided something for everyone in what was a well organised non stop program.
As has been the case in recent years the most popular drawcard for the crowds was the colonial and medieval re-enactments on the main arena, particularly the Battle of Lithgow between 'French' and 'British' military units - complete with cannon blasts and cavalry charges.
Jousting by knights on horseback and battles between fearsome Viking types were also again popular although the number of participating jousters was affected by the recent delays on overseas arrivals resulting from the horse flu outbreak.
There was another big crowd at the Sunday session and even the turnout for Friday's program was more than pleasing, particularly in view of the inclement weather.
The weather gods smiled on Ironfest on Saturday with sunny, mild conditions being enjoyed by all after a fortnight of rain.
On Sunday most of the activities were also completed before the predicted weather conditions again turned nasty.
Len Ashworth, Lithgow Mercury 29/04/2008
See images of Ironfest 2008
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2009
The 10th annual Lithgow District Ironfest, ‘Das Kapital’, took place over the weekend of April 25 & 26; on a very windy weekend and very cold on the Sunday.
The weather affected this festival more than any other: setting-up was harder, marquees had to be put up a number of times, and some were not erected at all (eg. parenting room), internal signage could not be put out, stallholders stayed away, and some that came were blown away.
And there is no doubt that overall visitor attendance was also dramatically affected, with this year’s attendance only marginally (500 people*) bigger than last year’s, (* Latest revisable estimate) despite fantastic media exposure.
The pattern of visitation was also dramatically affected, with people arriving and departing in only a couple of hours. (The pattern in the past few years was of increasing hours spent at the festival with an average of about a 3 ½ hour stay in 2008.)
Organization
On the organizational side, the festival continues to grow, with about 30% more people becoming members in 2009 as compared to 2008, to a total of approx 18 members.
Setting up, we did a much better job in having hands to help. The number of volunteers was great, and not many idle hands. We still need more people to help in pulling down though.
We had big wins in:
The amount of media interest
New stage locations
Photographic Exhibition
The Inside Stage relocation
The number of volunteers involved
Cooke’s Stage
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And failures in:
Sculpture Walk (needed more art)
Car displays (not enough cars)
The number of stalls (which was effected by the wind)
St Johns (who didn’t turn up)
The Parenting room, the Performance Stage & the Sacred Space, which all got blown away.
There is no doubt that Ironfest is still a quality event that provides a high level of customer satisfaction. Weather is something we can’t do much about, but if we continue to plan for the worst, we should be able to provide higher levels of comfort for both participants & patrons.
Directors Report 2009
See images of Ironfest 2009
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