Maitland Heritage Fest gearing up to take us back in time

The inaugural Maitland Heritage Festival - which will run over two-days in June - is aiming to celebrate, share and promote the long and rich history of our city.

Organising group member Janece McDonald said the event was the brainchild of a number of historical groups around Maitland.

"It really came about from the Maitland 200 centenary. We had the celebration in Maitland Park and it was the first time all these historical groups had ever been together," she said.

"Then the next year, we started thinking about the fact that Maitland has SteamFest and Riverlights but the city's tourism is based on its heritage.

"So we thought it was time to celebrate its heritage and history."

So began the organising process.

Fellow organising group member Joey Thelander said the event was originally supposed to be held in 2020 but the pandemic pushed it back.

"We had hoped to do it last year so we worked pretty well all of 2019 but we got to February last year, and suddenly we were looking further ahead. So this is the first one," she said.

There will be a wide variety of activities on offer including historical displays, talks, walks, children's activities, puppetry, musical performances, expert restoration advice and food.

There will also be a number of ticketed events include a heritage dinner at Mansfield House (June 11), ghost tours at Grossmann House (June 12) and Mansfield House (June 13), heritage walks and devonshire tea at Mansfield House (June 13) as well as a musical recital (June 12).

"I think there will be something for everybody. It's to showcase our heritage and history to the whole of NSW," Dr McDonald added.

The community driven event will be held on June 12 and 13 at the Church Street Precinct, with other venues around the city.

The group is also still welcoming sponsors or participants for the heritage festival.

People can contact the group via its Facebook page or emailing maitlandheritagefestival@gmail.com