The Henry Lawson Festival is an arts festival held annually on the King's birthday weekend in

Gulgong Gulgong is a 19th-century gold rush town in the Central Tablelands and the wider Central West regions of the Australian state of New South Wales. The town is situated within the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area. It is locate ...

and

Grenfell, New South Wales Grenfell is a town in Weddin Shire in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of Sydney. It is close to Forbes, New South Wales, Forbes, Cowra, New South Wales, Cowra and Young, New South Wal ...

(NWS), Australia.

Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial perio ...

, one of Australia's best loved poets and writer of short stories, was born in Grenfell, and he lived in Gulgong for a time as a child. The Festival is one of the longest running arts events in NSW, celebrating its 60th year in 2017 as well as Henry Lawson's 150th birthday, June 17, 2017. The Festival celebrates poetry, art, and Australian talent. The event includes exhibitions, school events, and plays, as well as a parade, street performers, and a car show. There are competitions in verse, short story, painting and photography.

Iandra Castle Iandra (colloquially known as Iandra Castle) is a large heritage register, heritage-listed homestead south of Greenethorpe, New South Wales, Greenethorpe, in the Weddin Shire, New South Wales, Australia. The property was added to the New South ...

also opens its doors to the public on the Sunday of the Festival. Each year the festival hosts an official guest for the weekend. Past guests include Dick Smith, Alan Jones, Judy Nunn,

Garry McDonald Garry George McDonald AO (born 30 October 1948) is an Australian actor, satirist and comedian. In a career spanning five decades he has had many theatre, television and film roles, and has been listed as a National Living Treasure. He is bes ...

Slim Dusty Slim Dusty, AO MBE (born David Gordon Kirkpatrick; 13 June 1927 – 19 September 2003) was an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He was an Australian cultural icon and one of the country's most awarded stars ...

Bill Peach William Norman Peach (15 May 1935 – 27 August 2013) known as Bill Peach, was an Australian television journalist who hosted the ABC current affairs program ''This Day Tonight'' from 1967 to 1975. Early life and education Peach was born in ...

and Bertha Jago (Henry Lawson's daughter). Over the last few years the committee has also encouraged those with the name "Henry" (first, middle or last name) to meet at the Henry Lawson statue in Main Street for a group photo. In 2021 the event was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales The COVID-19 pandemic in New South Wales is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in New South Wales was identified on 1 ...

References

External links

Official Web Site

Visit NSW Event Listing

Grenfell Tourism Event Listing
Festivals in New South Wales Recurring events established in 1958 1958 establishments in Australia {{lit-festival-stub