The 21st Blue Mountains Winter Magic Festival
will be held Saturday 21st June 2014
in Katoomba, Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia.
The Winter Magic Festival is a free, annual community event, celebrated around the Winter solstice in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia.
The Winter Solstice in 2014 is June 21st, 8:51pm AEST.
Winter Magic is the Blue Mountain's highest profile and most anticipated annual event. The Blue Mountains is NSW inaugural City of the Arts and Katoomba is the heart of that city. It is the weekend when artists, musicians, dancers, drummers, choirs, stalls and community take over one of Australia's most famous towns.
During the event, the main street of Katoomba is closed to motor traffic and open to pedestrian traffic. This allows the whole town to become a performance space. The streets are lined with market stalls and everybody who attends is encouraged to dress in costume.
Unlike many Festivals run by Chambers of Commerce and Councils, this event is run by community volunteers. It has a strong local focus and very wide general appeal. The setting is a town sitting on a narrow ridge and bound north and south by a World Heritage listed National Park.
The festival itself is free, however some activities charge a fee.
The theme for 2014 is……
PHOENIX DREAMING
We are celebrating the second year of the bicentenary of the crossing of the
Blue Mountains (200 years!)
and the 21st anniversary of Winter Magic!
A huge year indeed, so come and party with us.
New 2014 Winter Magic Committee!
Firstly, the 2014 committee would like to thank the 2013 committee for running an incredible festival – with festivals of this size it is amazing how it all comes together with such a little number of volunteers.
We would also like to thank Blue Mountains City Council Events Co-ordinator, Wendy Dollin, who works tirelessly on helping the committee members ensure that they have everything necessary in place.
Another shout out goes to Matt Giles from ESI who creates and manages our traffic management plans leading up to and on the day, we really wouldn't be able to do it without you.
A HUGE thank you to the Police, RFS, SES and anyone else that has a hand in working behind the scenes on the festival.
This festival really does come together with the help of not just the official committee members but from so many other members of the Blue Mountains community.
Now to introduce the new committee for 2014
President – Sharon Peralta (Also Sponsorship & Stalls Management)
Treasurer – Mark Jarvis
Secretary – Toni Clark
ArtStreet – Victor Peralta
Entertainment – Tina Sheil
Sustainability – Marina Brown
Volunteers – Monica Gragg
Media, Publicity & Promotions – Charity Mirow / Divine Moon Design
Clockwise from top left – Sharon Peralta, Marina Brown,
Victor Peralta, Tina Sheil, Charity Mirow
Thank you to Mell Mallin Photography for the group photo.
The 2014 committee have been very excitedly working on this year's festival.
Applications are now closed for Entertainment (these will be listed on the program as soon as the schedule is finalised), Stall applications are also now closed and we are at capacity.
Sponsorship applications are also available via the page link.
One of the major things that the committee are working on this year is the website so please be patient whilst it is under construction, we will do this as quickly as possible. We will ensure that the necessary pages are still available in their 2013 format.
A major focus for the committee in 2014 is to try and represent the local community, we have such a diverse population and culture up here and we will do our best to represent it the best we can.
This year discounted stall spaces were also offered to local and handmade traders to try encourage and support our local community further and increase the representation in our stall precinct.
Not only can you watch the website for updates but you can keep an ear out for interviews on the local radio and look for pieces in the Gazette and updates in the facebook page on what is happening with Winter Magic 2014.
The Winter Magic Festival brings so many people to Katoomba and we on the committee felt that we needed to lighten our footprint in the mountains so we have created a 3 year sustainability plan of which we are now in our 2nd year. Committee members are working hard on strategies to ensure that the festival is sustainable for our wonderful community. Check out the sustainability page to see what we're up to! If anyone is interested in helping out with sustainability, Marina Brown would welcome any enquiries, you can contact her at –
If you would like to get involved in other areas there are always things that need doing, please don't be afraid to put up your hand. We desperately need volunteers for the day – it really does help to make the day run smoothly – as you can imagine with 40,000+ visitors. Register your interest on the volunteer application page or email Monica Gragg at –
That is it for the moment, we will try and keep you informed and as up to date as possible.
Thanks and take care,
Winter Magic Festival Management
The 2014 Website background edge theme design of the "Phoenix Dreaming"
is by Charity Mirow of Divine Moon Design
www.divinemoondesign.com.au
www.facebook.com/divinemoondesign
Experience the Magic
