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.
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.