Ironfest is "the Festival where anything goes" and for another year will transform the Lithgow Showground into a medieval kingdom full of weird and wonderful creatures and all clans, civilised and wild.

Ironfest founder and event organiser Macgregor Ross said it had grown significantly since its early days.

"We ended up having the first Ironfest in Main Street on the footpaths and in the shops, there were about 28 people involved now we're looking at 2000 and that's just the participants," he said.

Mr Ross began his master planning for the first Ironfest in 1998 and said the idea for the festival came about when he realised Lithgow needed its own signature event.

"One day I'm walking down Main Street thinking I've got to do something and this town really needs something to highlight culture and also bring people here," he said.

He said the first thing he had to do was set a date and when that thought entered his mind, a Jones Brothers bus drove past.

"Literally as soon as I thought about setting a date, the bus went past and on the back of it, it said 'Lithgow, birth place of steel in Australia' and I thought "when's that date?", he said.

Mr Ross headed to the library to find out when that date was and it turned out that in 18 months time it would be the 100 year anniversary.

"I was like wow, that's brilliant because it gave me enough time and a bigger window of opportunity to work on what I thought would be a significant event," he said.

Eighteen months later, and after a lot of hard work, Mr Ross held the first of many Ironfest events.

"We had nothing, started from complete scratch but here was this little gold nugget that we created," he said.

The first two years of Ironfest had no theme, but it wasn't until the third year when the festival had grown and moved to the State Mine that Mr Ross realised there was a need for a brand.

"We were just lucky to happen the first couple of years and themes weren't really important at the time, but Steampunk was the first important theme, where it changed the festival," he said.

Now at Lithgow Showground Ironfest themes have become increasingly important, according to Mr Ross.

"They give us an opportunity to bring in a new element, but it's also part of the way we can say that we are changing and people can see that, it's not the same thing every year," he said.

Mr Ross said the Ironfest journey had been pretty incredible but also a real struggle over the years.

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"I really thought it was going to be an easier thing to do than what it has been but it's enriched me, financially I'm really poor but spiritually and psychically I'm rich as," he said.

He said things were looking "pretty sweet" for this year's 20th anniversary and with 'Once Upon a Time' being a soft theme, he thought it was going to be one not to miss.

"At the moment ticketing is up 10 per cent on 20,000 people last year, so we're expecting it to reach 15 per cent, so that's 23,000 looking to be at Lithgow's Ironfest," he said.

Event organisers have began the transformation and according to Mr Ross would be "once again pushing the boundaries of the Lithgow Showground".

"We've opened up pretty much every area that we are able to and we've got a lot of good new things, including a kids area which we are calling Kid's Kingdom, we've got a whole lot of new attractions, we've got the NSW Storytellers guild, a mermaid, the Carnivale fire crew and a whole lot of returning acts toom" he said.

Mr Ross said Ironfest crosses every field and is a chance for people to be something else for a little bit.

"It is a real escape from their lives, which we should all do," he said.

He also said he was incredibly proud of everything the festival had achieved in the last 20 years.

"Ironfest is based here and it always will be, it comes out of the ground you know, it's coal, it's iron.

"And when you look here every photo you take at the site it's got a castle, or the hills or the beautiful grandstand and sunsets, there's not a backdrop that isn't beautiful.

"We are a world class event, there is nothing like us anywhere, we are huge and truly as part of our 20th anniversary I've been going through a bit of history stuff and I saw my original proposal, it has remained pretty true to itself," he said.

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