Willie Smith’s Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festival kicks off at Ranelagh Recreation Grounds

Folklore, fire and feasting will be embraced by record crowds over the next three days as up to 19,000 people flock to Willie Smith’s Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festival.

FOLKLORE, fire and feasting will be embraced by record crowds over the next three days as up to 19,000 people flock to Willie Smith’s Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festival.

Celebrations kick off from 5pm Friday, with the official Aboriginal Welcome Ceremony by Nayri Niara to cleanse spirits and make way for the new at 7.30pm.

A 15m high wicker man, Big Willie, will then go up in flames to symbolise letting go of any negative energy.

Creator of ‘Big Willie’ Marcus Gibbon ahead of the Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festival. Photograph Eddie Safarik

With mainland ticket sales tracking 25 per cent up on last year and overall ticket sales tracking 5 per cent up on last year’s record 18,000 strong crowd, the Mid-Winter Festival is set for another bumper turnout.

Festival director and Willie Smith’s Cider Makers co-founder Sam Reid said festival favourites would benefit from this year’s move to Ranelagh Recreation Grounds.

“I’m pumped to see everyone exploring the little nooks and tucked away spaces around our new site — with over 40 fire pots, 200 hay bales and 1000 apple bins tucked in and around the animal sheds — it’s looking awesome,” he said.

Eclectic folk music will have crowds dancing up a storm, with Handsome Young Strangers and the Hot Potato Band among the major acts to take to the stage on opening night.

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Jimi Anderson’s Season and Fire will be one of more than 25 old and new food and drink stalls on offer to the thousands of festivalgoers travelling south.

“Season and Fire is my catering barbecue venture that is focused essentially around what the name suggests,” Mr Anderson said.

“Seasonal produce, well seasoned and cooked theatrically over fire.”

Jimi Anderson of Season and Fire with Ned Long of Wildgrove Farm Kitchen testing out the BBQ. Picture: EDDIE SAFARIK

He said the smell of smoke combined with his hot range of lamb, squid and chicken would tease the tastebuds of those looking for a hearty bite to warm their bellies.

Mr Anderson, who also works as a cider maker for Willie Smith’s, said the team had worked tirelessly to recreate the mystique of the former venue of the cider shed at the new site.

“It was always such a great site … the more you moved around and explored, the more you discovered,” he said.

“We’ve kept that in mind when designing the site. It’ll allow for people to move around a lot easier.”

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Saturday will start with a bang with the giant bonfire and the wassail — an Old English tradition which scares away evil spirits and awakens the apple trees to ensure a good harvest.

Festivalgoers are encouraged to join in the ceremony, which includes scaring away evil spirits with shotguns, banging pots and pans, and awakening the apple trees with the Wassail song, before blessing them with cider from the previous year’s harvest.

Sunday is all about family fun, with an abundance of kids’ entertainment, including their own wassail, a singing workshop, yoga, a secret play space and flower crown workshops.

Buses are available from Hobart, Kingston, Cygnet, Franklin, Grove and Huonville.

For full program details and festival and bus tickets, visit the festival website at hvwmf.com.au/tickets.

WHAT’S ON TONIGHT

■ International storyteller Martin Maudsley — 6.40pm

All the way from the United Kingdom, Mr Maudsley has a particular passion for stories that connect with wild landscapes and the natural world.

■ Welcome Ceremony — 7.30pm

Nayri Niara will bring festivalgoers an Aboriginal ceremony which will cleanse the spirit and make way for the new.

■ Burning Man — 7.50pm

Burning of a 15m-tall “Big Willie” sculpture.

■ Handsome Young Strangers — 8.15pm

Sydney’s Handsome Young Strangers perform tunes about bushrangers, shearing, droving, convict hardship, sports heroes, war veterans and other iconic Australians.

■ Hot Potato Band — 9.45pm

An amalgamation of catchy music and lyrics, infectious dance moves and audience interaction, their mobility as a band also breaks down barriers between stage and audience.