Bathurst Winter Festival 2021

After Bathurst's annual Winter Festival was cancelled last year, everyone was so looking forward to a great time this year.

However, we all know that you can't take anything for granted any more and just a few hours before the opening of the event, last Friday, news came out that Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Illawarra and Central Coast would be locked down and everyone else in the state would have to wear face masks.  The Festival is a huge draw card for families during the winter school holidays, so it was mad scramble to make changes for the event to still able to proceed in a limited manner.  We were away, so would not have had the chance to go anyway.

As the COVID situation hasn't got any worse and there have been no cases in our area the "Brew and Bite" event this last weekend was able to go ahead.  We went along and had a wonderful time.

The day had been cold with scatty showers blowing across all day, but fortunately, the weather cleared for the evening.

Our first stop is always to get some mulled wine from Renzaglia Winery, as we used to be their next door neighbours.  It is something we look forward to each Winter Festival.

The Carillon looked great all lit up and with the ferris wheel in the background.

The band "Wildcard" were playing during the event.  What a great band.  Pop over to their facebook site to have a listen.

There were some street performers roaming around.  They are all part of the Kelso High School circus troupe.

Let's go for a wonder around.

Next we went for a wander over to Machattie Park to have a look around.

Not as much to see as previous years, but it was still nice.

A main feature of the festival is the illuminations on some buildings around town. Usually our impressive court house is the centrepiece, but it is currently undergoing major restorations, so cannot be used.

This building showcased indigenous art.

One laneway had what I considered to be the most fun installation.  You stood in a certain spot and as you moved, it was projected onto the wall in front.  This girl had it worked out so well, and her yellow jacket showed up so well.  If you were wearing dark clothes, only your face showed up.

There were vintage railway scenes on the side of the Railway Museum.

This was another fun installation.  It showed the man actually doing the painting as a movie.  Very clever.

There were others as well.

Some of the shops decorated their windows.  The antique shop always does a nice job.

Some local ladies created a crochet Christmas tree.

And finally, the Anglican Cathedral had some fun little fellows on show.

By now it was getting a bit late, and the event was winding up.  We did have a lovely evening out.