This year Steamfest has gone tech savvy with visitors to the internationally acclaimed event now able to access an app. 

Information, including timetables and history of the 30-year-old event, can be found by searching Hunter Valley Steamfest on the IZI.Travel app. 

What will people find on this app?

The app provides an audio walking tour of Hunter Valley Steamfest that will enhance the Steamfest experience. It provides information about what is happening on the Rally Ground, in the Maitland Station Precinct, along Church Street as well as information about activities available over the weekend. 

They can download at Steamfest using free wi-fi?

There will a download station located in the Maitland Station Precinct where visitors can download the izi.travel app using free Wi-Fi and also receive assistance from staff about the app.

How will app help visitors to Steamfest?

The app will act as a guide to Steamfest. The walking tour covers all aspects of the event, and provide more information than available anywhere else. It provides more information than that available on the printed program. 

Will App be updated for every Steamfest or is this just a one of?

We are trialling the app for 2016.

Does the app also give a history tour of Steamfest?

The app focuses on what is happening around the visitor at the event. Some historic elements are mentioned but it is not a historic tour.

Event organisers are putting the final touches to this year’s two-day festival, based around Maitland Railway Station, which is expected to surpass other years in terms of visitation.

Maitland City Council events co-ordinator Adam Franks said ticket sales for various excursions this Saturday and Sunday have exceeded expectations with only a few seats left.

Some of the trips include shuttles to Branxton and Broadmeadow, a cocktail and canapes train ride to Singleton and a Dungog dinner and movie package.

“There are still a few seats left to Branxton on The Garratt, the largest steam engine in the Southern Hemisphere,” Mr Franks said.

He said the event will draw visitors from across the Hunter Valley and Australia as well as internationally.

“This year’s event is shaping up to be the biggest in its 30-year history,” he said.

“Having four trains here is certainly a highlight along with all the other activities we have planned, so weather permitting it will be a hit.”

Steamfest celebrates Maitland’s rich steam and industrial heritage.

The event has cemented itself as Australia’s premier festival of steam, attracting tens of thousands of people each year.

Established in 1986 following the closure of the last coal operated steam hauled freight service in Australia on the South Maitland Railway Line in 1983, Steamfest pays homage to the end of an industrial era and the men and women involved in its operation.

Steamfest is on Saturday April 9 – Sunday April 10