If you have never visited the Macedon Ranges in Victoria; this is the perfect excuse to start planning a little road trip.
The Lost Trades Fair is a yearly event; this year it will take place on the 11th and 12th of March at the Kyneton Racecourse. The 2017 fair will host over 100 local and interstate artisans who will be showing their skill, passion and centuries old techniques which have been passed on to them from older generations. This year's fair will also be hosting an international maker from North Carolina, USA.
Lost Trades Fair is a celebration and exhibition on trades which have been forgotten with time and erased with the creation of mass production and manufacture. The event will gather all sorts of makers who will be showing their skill, knowledge and ancient techniques: blacksmiths, spoon makers, milliners, tool makers, forgers, wood carvers, whip makers, cobbers, decorative painters, spinners, textile and basket weavers, hedge layers, stonemasons, furniture makers, just to name a few!
Last year's Lost Trades Fair attracted over 16,000 in only two days. The aim of this event is to ignite curiosity in people on how everyday objects are made, to inspire the public and younger generations to seek well-made objects that will last a lifetime if well looked after; artifacts which offer a more sustainable approach to today's environmental challenges and disposable culture and most importantly to empower people to realize what they are capable of with their own two hands and a few tools of the trade, anything is possible if you work hard for it and practice.
Gates open at 9:30am, the event is family friendly and you are welcome to enjoy a meal at the various fresh food stalls on site or bring your own picnic.
The Lost Trades Fair will also host workshops which you can attend, join a cooper, a bowyer, a silversmith or a locksmith. Learn spoon carving workshop or leather plaiting and make a stock whip. You can also reserve a spot for a tool making workshop or book a spot in one of the many regional workshops from bread making to charcuterie.
Adult Tickets: $15.00 Junior Tickets: $5.00 (5 - 15years, under 5 years are free) Family Tickets: $35.00 (2 Adults up to 4 children)
Pensioner Card Holders: $10.00
Carers are free when accompanying disabled patrons.
How to get there?
By car:
Kyneton Racecourse is in the Macedon Ranges, 85 km north of Melbourne, just off the Calder Freeway (an hour from Melbourne and 40 minutes from Tullamarine Airport).
Public transport:
Train: Bendigo Train Line
Trains to Kyneton run from Southern Cross Station (Melbourne CBD) and from Bendigo.
Free buses will run from Kyneton Station directly to and from the Lost Trades Fair.
