Lost Trades Fair 2017

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The countdown is on for the 2017 Lost Trades Fair, held again at the picturesque Kyneton Racecourse on the 11th and 12th of March. Bigger and better again, this year sees over 100 incredibly talented trade and craftspeople practising and demonstrating their amazing skills under the canopy of the Racecourse's 100+ year old oak and elm trees.

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This year, artisans will come from across Victoria, the breadth of NSW, far North Queensland, Tasmania and for the first time, our first international maker will join us from the Untied States of America. Claire Minihan, from North Carolina is a travisher and spokeshave maker, as well as an accomplished furniture maker in her own right. Claire hand makes incredible chairmaking tools, inclusive of all the metal work, heat treating and more to produce a hand tool which is unparalleled in both performance and beauty.

There will also be workshops running both before and after the fair, with traditional makers from the region, interstate and overseas. This is something that will continue to expand in the coming years, making the event an interactive experience and perpetuating the Lost Trades Fair's ethos of sharing information to keep traditional and rare trades alive and vibrant.

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Coinciding with this years event is the release of our first journal, Lost Trades - The Artisans, celebrating the lives and stories of ten of this year's artisans. Copies of the journal will be available at the Lost Trades Fair, in store at Rundell & Rundell Chairmakers, 29 Piper Street, Kyneton and online at rundellandrundell.com.au

In its fourth year, the Lost Trades Fair is the largest gathering of traditional artisans in one location in Australia, but what sets it apart from other events is our continued ethos of makers demonstrating their skills and not just static product. There are no mass produced products from shipping containers at the event, everything there has been made by the hands of the amazing artisans present. Our commitment to quality food and produce, with many of our food providers bringing their produce literally from paddock to plate and an impressive line up of local musicians playing live music through out the day.

Although all manner of mediums are represented, from bronze to leather and stone to glass, woodworkers are again well catered for. Woodturners, plane makers, marking out toolmakers, traditional joiners, long bow maker, fletcher ( arrow maker ), fly rod makers, traditional bush skills, luthiers, chairmakers, toolmakers, cricket bat maker, woodcarver, spoon carvers, treadle lathes, rocking horse maker and of course the face of the Lost Trades Fair, George Smithwick the cooper, will all be producing amazing articles from timber.

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There will also be plenty to keep the kids amused, entertained and engaged, with sword making with toy maker Tim Schloss, Kerryn Carter from Tool School presenting small woodworking projects for kids, Prof. Wallace's Puppet Show, Stan from The Billinudgel Woodworking Company and his brilliant Crosscut Saw Race, The Australian Mechanical Organ Society with their amazing music machines, live music and much more.

The Lost Trades Fair is a fantastic weekend of entertainment, showcasing the extraordinarily talented makers in our communities. Just a one hour drive from Melbourne CBD and 50 mins from Tullamarine Airport, regular trains to Kyneton with connecting shuttle buses throughout the day direct to the venue.

Tickets are available online at trybooking.com, through lost trades.info or the rundellandrundell.com.au website. Online, pre-purchased tickets ensure early entry at 9.30. Tickets are also available at the gate, entry at 10am. Make sure you come and say hello, I'll be on the shavehorse making Windsor Chairs!

Glen Rundell, co-founder Lost Trades Fair

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