Winter Magic Festival in Katoomba, New South Wales | Festival

Winter Magic Festival

Locality: Katoomba, New South Wales

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25.01.2022 We cant do Winter Magic this year because of COVID-19 restrictions but we hope Katoomba locals dont forget to do Winter Magic in our front yards! We really hope we can put smiles on peoples faces, even though we wont have the usual Winter Magic festivities in 2020. You can build anything you like, from scarecrows to installations. Just take a picture and tag us on Facebook @katoombawintermagic or Instagram @wintermagicfestival https://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au//winter-magic-in/ {Image Brian Yap, 2006}

24.01.2022 WE HAVE A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT *drumroll* ... The theme for Winter Magic 2020 is REGENERATION and our theme colour is dark green, with burnt orange and sky blue highlights. We have chosen the word Regeneration to represent our communitys survival and our capacity for change and adaptation as we emerge from our Blue Mountains of summer of terrifying bushfires and choking smoke, which only ended with a deluge. On the eve of the Winter Solstice on 20 June 2020 we will come toge...ther to celebrate our community and its creativity and diversity. Our festival will be on the same footprint as last year, with no grand parade, but with a variety of acts across multiple stages, street-based performances and entertainment and some genuine surprises on the day. We really want people to dress up so hope everyone embraces those colours of dark green, burnt orange and sky blue, in whichever combination suits them. Keep watching this space for details of what to expect on the day, and get planning your outfits. [Image from the Royal Botanic Gardens of the Wollemi pines in our World Heritage Area which, through hard work and care by the RFS and the NPWS, survived the conflagration.]

22.01.2022 Winter Magic wishes all of our supporters, partners, volunteers and friends a very Merry Christmas and a brilliant 2020. We are so grateful to the RFS right now but know after the fires finally go out well need to rebuild our upper mountains businesses and we cant wait to get started on recovery. See you in 2020.

22.01.2022 We know times are tight but if you are missing Winter Magic this weekend and want to make sure it can happen next year, please consider donating to our PayPal. Every little bit helps. https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr

21.01.2022 Exciting news! Winter Magic Festival is looking for a Blue Mountains couple (or couples) in love to seal their union as part of the winter solstice celebrations. Tina Marie Sheil from Love in the Mountains is a registered civil marriage celebrant and long-time Winter Magic Festival participant, performer and organiser. She has performed over 300 wedding ceremonies in the Blue Mountains and will provide a free marriage ceremony for couples who would like to legally marry surr...ounded by the circle of their community. Marriage ceremonies represent a celebration of love and new beginnings and those gathered to witness and participate in this ritual experience a collective sense of joy. I would like this wedding ritual to facilitate a weaving of love and community says Tina Marie. The ceremony will be created in collaboration between Tina Marie and the couple/s. It is envisaged that it will reflect the themes and spirit of the Winter Magic Solstice connection to community, kindness, celebration of life, new beginnings, music, dance and REGENERATION! The ceremony will take place at 2pm at the Winter Magic Festival on Saturday 20 June 2020 (what an auspicious day!) If you are interested in learning more please contact Tina Marie Sheil at [email protected] to organize a time to meet and chat further.

20.01.2022 If COVID-19 hadn’t happened we would have been presenting the 26th Winter Magic Festival this weekend but there you go. Instead, here’s a little #wintermagicinmygarden installation. Note the colours of forest green, orange and sky blue for REGENERATION. Have a lovely, albeit quiet, solstice weekend folks and we hope to see plenty of other gardens dressed up this weekend to capture our much-missed magic. See you in 2021. #wintermagic2020 #wintersolstice

19.01.2022 This is a message from Emily of Hands Heart and Feet, who are the wonderful dancers that have been at the centre of Winter Magic for more than a decade.

18.01.2022 WE NEED A NEW PRESIDENT AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS so don't forget to come to our Annual General Meeting this Monday night, by Zoom! Message us for the zoom link. Voting by Zoom is going to be interesting but our returning officer, Sarah, will be working with us to maintain everyone's privacy if ballots are needed. If you would like to join the committee or vote, please deposit $2 in our Bendigo account (Bendigo, Katoomba Winter Magic, BSB 633 000 / Account Number 136 801 792) or by Paypal ([email protected]) and send an email stating your name and address to [email protected]

18.01.2022 Dear everyone, we had hoped that we would be able to do ArtStreet in June but its still bit weird outside with COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing so we decided it would be a better idea to proceed with it in September, for the equinox. Hope to see you then! Meanwhile, artists start getting ready, and we look forward to dealing with our shopkeepers and businesses around 21 September 2020.

16.01.2022 Stallholders who booked a stall at last years 2019 festival are now able to make an earlybird stall booking for 2020. Returning stallholders have been sent an email with booking details. If email not received please check spam/junk folder first before contacting [email protected] to resend. Application details for new stallholders will be published on our website on Monday 17 February 2020.

16.01.2022 Uplift Fair Trade is one of many Katoomba Street businesses who are doing it really tough after the bushfire emergency resulted in the loss of our Christmas and New Year visitors. When businesses like Uplift close there is a ripple effect on suppliers and in this case those ripples spread to developing nations like Nepal. If you care about ethically-sourced, sustainable products and want to sling a little bit of money into Uplifts GoFundMe or (better still) buy something wonderful from them, visit their website or come up and see them in person. We have the most glorious blue skies here, many walks are open, and the greenery is abundant. #bushfirerecovery #saveuplift #visitbluemountains #buylocal #spendwiththem #buyfromthebush #handmade #ethicalfashion

15.01.2022 Katoomba’s biggest community event is looking for a new President. The Winter Magic Festival, an annual event that contributes in excess of $2m per year to the local economy, providing entertainment to more than 40,000 visitors each year, is looking for an enthusiastic President to lead the established committee as it navigates the new events landscape we find ourselves in. The committee elected at the recent AGM are:... Pamela Silsbey - Secretary Phillip Nelson - Treasurer Ian Dudley-Bestow David Brazil Nadja Lawerence Rick Turnock The committee is working on plans for holding a scaled down covid safe event for 2021, focusing on community engagement and the arts, with a view to returning bigger and better in 2022. The committee is accepting expressions of interest now via [email protected].

14.01.2022 Support Act is a hugely important organisation for musicians and they are running an appeal to raise funds to get people through the COVID-19 crisis. Please contribute if you can.

14.01.2022 Start getting ready for Winter Magic in the front garden! #wintermagicinmyfrontgarden

14.01.2022 Beloved of locals, Blackheath Weather is in need of support. Please consider donating to keep this vital community service (and delightful community) running.

12.01.2022 Performers! A heads up that we will soon start recruiting musicians, dancers, theatre performers, street acts and other entertainers to fill our 2020 Winter Magic program. Only local acts please - you must live in or be from the Blue Mountains. Applications will open on 9 March 2020 and close on 1 April 2020. We really want to hear from young people and are committed to ensuring gender equity and access for people with disabilities. If you are keen, you can start getting yo...ur supporting material ready now - a good high resolution photograph and an accurate description of your act, plus a well-written blurb. Video clips are really helpful. We have so many amazing artists in the Blue Mountains so its a competitive process. Make sure you stand out! Photo of Kaziah by Callan Huggard in The Baroque Room, Winter Magic 2019.

11.01.2022 STATEMENT BY THE KATOOMBA WINTER MAGIC FESTIVAL COMMITTEE Its with a very heavy heart that we must announce the cancellation of the Katoomba Winter Magic Festival in 2020. It will come as no surprise to the Blue Mountains community that uncertainty around COVID19 means we are unable to plan effectively for a safe and successful event in 2020.... Halting preparation at this early stage means we are able to protect the ongoing integrity of the event, and give stall-holders, performers, sponsors, and other stakeholders as much notice as possible. It means we are able to play our part in supporting the health and safety of the community in the face of such an unknown and potentially widespread threat. It means we will be in a much stronger position to come back in 2021. All stall-holders who have paid in advance for the 2020 event will be refunded. We also want to thank everyone who pledged sponsorship for Winter Magic 2020 and encourage them to carry over that commitment to Winter Magic 2021. While the decision to cancel preparations for the 2020 Festival is heartbreaking, there is something of a silver lining - the very popular ArtStreet will still go ahead this year (in September 2020). ArtStreet is a fantastic community arts program which supports local artists by exhibiting their work in shops and businesses along Katoomba Street. We understand news of the Winter Magic Festivals cancellation will come as an enormous disappointment to many in the Blue Mountains community and beyond. It demonstrates the remarkable success of this unique festival over the years in capturing the hearts and minds of locals and visitors alike. Our theme this year was appropriately to be regeneration, representing survival and regrowth as well as change and adaptation. That sentiment holds firm, and the Blue Mountains Winter Magic Festival Committee remains committed to delivering a fantastic event in 2021 Regeneration 2021.

10.01.2022 WE NEED A NEW PRESIDENT AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS so dont forget to come to our Annual General Meeting this Monday night, by Zoom! Message us for the zoom link. Voting by Zoom is going to be interesting but our returning officer, Sarah, will be working with us to maintain everyones privacy if ballots are needed. If you would like to join the committee or vote, please deposit $2 in our Bendigo account (Bendigo, Katoomba Winter Magic, BSB 633 000 / Account Number 136 801 792) or by Paypal ([email protected]) and send an email stating your name and address to [email protected]

09.01.2022 If you think festivals and the wider arts sector need tailored relief please sign this petition to the Australian Parliament. And please share it widely. The petition has been initiated by musical theatre star Chloe Dallimore, and many others. Petition Reason The arts and entertainment industry has been devastated by shutdowns caused by the coronavirus crisis. It was the first sector to be hit, when gatherings of 500 people or more were banned, and is likely to be one of the... last sectors to be released from restrictions. Data recently released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows fewer than half of businesses in the sector were operating by the end of March. After years of cuts and neglect, the government has failed to act to save the arts and entertainment sector. Although JobKeeper will help some, there are major gaps in coverage for freelancers and contractors which the government has failed to address. These gaps affect the vast majority of artists and a very significant number of technical workers. The Treasurer has the ability to fix this without legislation, and he must do so immediately. The government must also deliver the sector a tailored fiscal relief package to ensure its ongoing viability. We need large and small companies and venues to still exist following the crisis so they can continue to employ Australian artists. Australian artists are the keepers of Australian stories. They give so much to our country and to the Australian identity we cannot do without them. Petition Request We therefore ask the House to Extend the JobKeeper payment to arts and entertainment sector workers who are currently ineligible; and Deliver the arts and entertainment sector a tailored and properly targeted relief package to ensure its ongoing viability. https://www.aph.gov.au/petition_list?id=EN1609

08.01.2022 Come and see us in Katoomba, the town needs your business!

08.01.2022 Stallholder applications are open! Come and be part of largest market in the Blue Mountains on the Winter Solstice (discounts apply for locals selling Australian hand made goods). New stallholders for 2020 can apply for a stall using the following link: http://bit.ly/wmf-2020-stallholder-apply Returning stallholders from 2019 can make an earlybird stall booking for 2020 stall using the following link: http://bit.ly/wmf-2020-stallholder-book... Returning stallholders have already been emailed an Invitation Code to make a booking. If email has not been received please check spam/junk folder first before contacting [email protected] to resend.

08.01.2022 Our AGM is in August and we need a new president and festival director (ideally two people) and a new secretary. Come and join us to make Winter Magic happen in 2021!

05.01.2022 Hilary Sims won our ArtStreet Peoples Choice Award at Winter Magic 2019 and shes auctioning one of her beautiful paintings to raise funds for WIRES so they can assist some of the wildlife harmed by these fires. Click through to bid or find her on Instagram at @hilary_sims.

05.01.2022 If COVID-19 hadnt happened we would have been presenting the 26th Winter Magic Festival this weekend but there you go. Instead, heres a little #wintermagicinmygarden installation. Note the colours of forest green, orange and sky blue for REGENERATION. Have a lovely, albeit quiet, solstice weekend folks and we hope to see plenty of other gardens dressed up this weekend to capture our much-missed magic. See you in 2021. #wintermagic2020 #wintersolstice

03.01.2022 One of our favourite partnerships is with the Rural Fire Service their volunteers make Winter Magic work on the day! As we all know they are doing an amazing job of keeping our communities safe during this horrendous fire season so big group of folks (all of whom played at the 2019 Winter Magic Festival) have put together this benefit gig to say thank you and provide them with funds they need to keep safe and well while they protect us. So please, come along, donate as much as you can, sing some carols, and send our firies good vibes for the festive season.

03.01.2022 The Winter Magic Festival committee wishes our festival community a safe and happy New Year and hopes that the festival we are bringing you on 20 June 2020 will be part of bringing life back to our mountains communities. These last months have seen tragedy on an unprecedented scale in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria and were very sorry that people in our Greater Blue Mountains have been caught up in the maw of these fires. We have heard sad stories from Bilpin, Bell..., Mt Tomah, Mt Wilson, Mt Irvine, Blackheath, Lithgow, Dargan, Clarence, Hartley and many other villages and while the fire has left those parts, today we are watching back burning to protect our lower mountains communities in the coming week and bracing for yet more smoke and fire. We miss the visitors that usually come to us in summer and our local businesses are doing it so very tough. Were not alone, we know that. This post is later than intended because the Winter Magic Festival president happened to be in Narooma on New Years Eve, along with many other families from the Blue Mountains who were trying to clear their lungs on the south coast of New South Wales. We were all safe and well but visitors hearts were breaking for the towns we love so much. Little Cobargo is a festival town as well, and their 25th Cobargo Folk Festival is due to take place at the end of February. Were not sure what will happen but we really hope they can come together, after enduring so much sadness [update 7/1/20: the Yuin Folk Club has announced the festival will be postponed owing to the devastation, lack of infrastructure and continuing fire risk. We know thats a hard road and our hearts go out to them.] Well wrap this post up by saying that were so grateful to our fire and emergency services personnel and our incredible RFS volunteers and for the community spirit that truly is a light in trying times. Come the winter we can breathe in fresh cold air and come together and our RFS and SES volunteers will, were sure, be amongst the most popular attendees. Maybe it will have rained and the forests will be starting to regrow, like they do in this photo from Caro Ryan. Lets hope.

03.01.2022 We need a new president. Could it be you? Send us a message if you would like to talk.

03.01.2022 Winter Magic has a brand new website, built by David Brazil. Check it out! https://wintermagic.com.au/

02.01.2022 Blue Mountains Makers organised our stalls for Winter Magic last year and although they cant attend or run markets they have found a way to cope with COVID-19 shutdowns. Find them here in the lead up to Mothers Day!

02.01.2022 More sad news, this time about ArtStreet. This pandemic life is full of disappointments.

01.01.2022 Winter Magics market has 30,000 visitors, which makes it bigger than any other market in the Blue Mountains and bigger than most festival markets in Sydney. Will yours be one of the 160 or so stalls presenting beautiful wares on 20 June 2020? We have discounts for Blue Mountains locals presenting hand made items. Applications are open now. Run, dont walk! https://docs.google.com//1FAIpQLSfCEV8uP-RYoGOoOE/viewform