There’s a certain “couture” unique to our region - an “edgy” , eclectic mix of strong colours and layers,  with a pooling of eras from vintage through to retro and beyond interspersed with art clothing, thanks to the wealth of textile artists living here in this Inaugural City of The Arts!

Well-known dressmaker and textile artist Dawn Wigge describes this “style” as . . .  ”not seasonal where items are grabbed because they’re trendy for the moment and then discarded:  It’s more a brooding, deep-seated creative individualism, where people make statements with their style, allowing experimentation with colour, for example.  Clothing becomes a drama”.

Slow Food Blue Mountains and Cittaslow Katoomba Blue Mountains have just produced a  SLOW SHOPPING TRAIL FOR FASHIONISTAS to highlight the Mountains’ unique style and at the same time support  local small businesses, our artists , charity shops   and the environment.  Woven through the Trail are some suggested delicatessen, cafe and restaurant ’stops’ along the way…

Since the early 1980s, the people of the Blue Mountains have been celebrating Yulefest.

It all began when a group of Irish men were staying at the Mountain Heritage Hotel, enjoying sitting around the warm log fire while snow was falling outside. They told their host “it feels like Christmas at home in Ireland”. The host thought it would be a great idea to re-create a festive ‘Winter Christmas’ atmosphere for his guests, complete with all the trimmings including falling snow and feasts of turkey, mince pies and plum puddings with brandy custard - all part of the Yulefest spirit.

Since then Yulefest has grown to become the major seasonal event in the Mountains during June, July and August, and is enjoyed by visitors from all over the world.  Many venues offer traditional Christmas style celebrations. While cold winds blow and the occasional snow falls, experience warm Mountains hospitality, log fires, Christmas fare, sing-alongs and - if you’re good - a visit from Santa. 

For those that can’t visit during the Yulefest season, the Blue Mountains offers four distinct European-style seasons. The area’s many tours and activities attract more than 2 millions visitors a year.

Visitors can enjoy Australian Aboriginal walkabout tours, abseiling, canyoning, bushwalking, rock climbing, Harley Davidson rides, Jenolan Caves explorations and travel on the historic Zig Zag Railway or cableway.

The Blue Mountains is Australia’s oldest tourist destination and people are drawn there for its sheer beauty, many plunging waterfalls, blue-hazed valleys and wonderful climate.

To find tours and accommodation packages in the visit BookBlueMountains website, where you can make accommodation reservations and book tours. Blue Mountains Accommodation on offer include cottages, manor houses, guest houses, fully equipped holiday homes, bed and breakfasts, hotels, retreats, cabins and hotels in the Blue Mountains. From luxury 5 star hotels through to budget establishments, the Blue Mountains has it all. ??For additional information visit http://www.BookBlueMountains.com.au

The Blue Mountains is hosting a huge program for National Youth Week 2009 (March 28-April 5), including under 18s gigs, parent forums and family events.

Launching Youth Week in the Blue Mountains will be Youth Rock Gig for 12-17 yr olds on Saturday 28 March at the Carrington’s Baroque Room from 2:00pm till 7:00pm. Bands include Red Bee, Unknown Quantity, The Credits, Picture Perfect, O.B.P.S and Fault Of Man. This is a drug and alcohol free event - fully supervised by youth workers and security staff. Tickets are $5 with limited ticket sales from Upper Mountains Youth Centre. Contact Wendy on (02) 4782 2875. Use of the venue has been kindly donated by the Carrington Hotel.

The Winmalee Skate Park will be opened on Sunday 29 March at 10:30 am at Summerhayes Park . A pro skating demo by Dustin Dollan and the PD Distribution Crew will take place including a best trick competition, free skating and sausage sizzle. Contact Ryn on (02) 4780 5545.

The Run for Fun is also on Sunday 29 March at Tom Hunter Park, Faulconbridge. It’s for all runners 12 years and over who wish to become the 2K, 5K or 10K Blue Mountains Champion for 2009. Be there at 9:30am for registration - there’s a $10 entry fee. All enquiries contact Colleen on (02) 4751 5851.

The Blue Mountains Youth Mental Health Study will be launched on Wednesday 1 April 10:00am - 11:30am in the Council Chambers, Katoomba. The presentation will report on key findings of a six-month study into youth mental health service needs among Blue Mountains young people aged 12-24 years. The research is a project of Youth Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Reference Group - YMISA - for more information call Ryn on (02) 4780 5545.

Wednesday 1 April is also Youth Homelessness Matters Day. Blue Mountains Youth Accommodation and Support Service is putting on a free BBQ at Katoomba Civic Centre at 11:30am to raise awareness of the thousands of young people who are sleeping on the streets and in refuges through out NSW.

Later on Wednesday, the Blue Mountains Youth Council for 2009 will be officially welcomed the Council at a ceremony in Council Chambers.

Talks by Steve Biddulph, psychologist and author of ‘The Secret of Happy Children’, ‘Raising Boys’ and ‘Manhood’ will be held during Youth Week. The topic of raising boys will be heard on Friday 3 April at 7:30pm at the Springwood Civic Centre: simple, practical ways to help boys to grow up to be happy, positive, caring and motivated. The Secret of Happy Children on Sunday 5 April 2:00pm at Springwood Civic Centre: for parents of boys and girls aged from birth to adulthood - gives a roadmap for understanding the kind of love your child needs at which age and how to adapt yourself to be able to help them grow up with good hearts and strong backbones.??Book online at www.springwoodtalks.com Adults $20 / Concession $12 per talk, tickets also available from The Turning Page Bookshop, 134 Macquarie Rd, Springwood.

Dancing Our Culture is a workshop for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living the Mountains. NAISDA Dance College students will deliver a Traditional, Contemporary Indigenous and Hip Hop dance performance and workshop on Saturday 4 April. Interested young ATSI people can call Jo on (02) 4782 6569.

Family Music Event on Sunday 5 April at Buttenshaw Park, 2:00pm -5:00pm. Bring a picnic rug and spend the afternoon being entertained by local young musicians.

The Youth Focused Graffiti Reduction Research Project Launch offers a fresh coat of paint to anti-graffiti programs! Mountains Youth Services Team (MYST), in partnership with Council and Youth Week 2009 is undertaking a research project to identify successful graffiti reduction programs from around the world. The project will identify graffiti reduction programs which address the concerns of property owners, the general public and local and state governments by reducing undesirable graffiti, while taking into account the artistic and social needs of young people.

Our Place - Urban Changes photographic workshops will be held in Lawson and Blackheath conducted by the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute, Blackheath Area Neighbourhood Centre and Mid Mountains Youth Centre. Young people will learn photographic skills, and use them to document their responses to their villages and developments there. For more information contact Cheryl on (02) 4782 4657.

Click here to view the Youth Week 2009 program.

Blue Mountains City Council has signed up for Earth Hour 2009.

At 8:30pm this Saturday, March 28, Council will ensure that all non-essential lights in the main Council administration building in Katoomba are switched off for one hour, in support of Earth Hour.

Earth Hour is a global climate change initiative organised by the global conservation organisation WWF (World Wildlife Fund for Nature).

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007 when approximately 2.2 million people and 2,100 businesses took part. The Australian initiative is now a truly global effort to focus attention on the threat of climate change, with people in 62 countries already signing up to switch off their lights for one hour from 8:30pm on Saturday 28 March 2009.

Mayor Cr Adam Searle said, “Earth Hour is a worldwide campaign that aims to educate the community about the threats of climate change, informing individuals and businesses about the difference they can make by reducing their emissions at home and in the workplace.

Council is committed to reducing our corporate energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and is working hard towards the goals that have been set in our Energy and Water Strategy 2007 - 2010.

I am proud to say that Council has exceeded its GHG reduction targets ahead of time. We have reduced our GHG emissions by 15% of 2004 levels and yet the target is to reduce our GHG emissions by 10% of 2004 levels by 2012.”

If all Australian households simply turned off unused lights and appliances on standby at the power point, Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by at least 5 million tonnes per annum - the equivalent to taking 1.5 million cars off the road for a year.

“I encourage Blue Mountains residents to join with Council in undertaking this small but significant action and switch off their lights for Earth Hour on 28 March 2009 from 8:30pm - 9:30pm.

Earth Hour is a great way to take action in reducing the impacts of climate change but it is important to continue to be energy efficient beyond Earth Hour, by undertaking small actions everyday to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

Simple things like turning off appliances while not in use, turning out lights when you’re not in a room and switching your light globes to energy efficient bulbs, will all help. Switching to cleaner sources of electricity like accredited ‘green power’ can also make a big difference”, Cr Searle concluded.

To find out more or to sign-up to Earth Hour 2009 go to www.earthhour.org.

There are a number of prescribed burns taking place each day this week and also on the weekend.

The following prescribed burns are planned for this week:

Tuesday: Sublime Point, Leura. 25ha.

Wednesday: Winbourne Ave, Hazelbrook. 52ha

Thursday: Chester Road, Wentworth Falls. 47ha.

Friday: Terpeian Rock, Katoomba. 6ha.

These activities are taking place on National Parks and Wildlife Service managed land, with some small areas of private property included, and are approved activities under the Blue Mountains Bush Fire Management Committee’s Hazard Reduction Programme.

For more information and maps, visit http://www.bluemountains.rfs.nsw.gov.au/dsp_more_info.cfm?CON_ID=6773&CAT_ID=76

An old shot of 'The Jungle', near Mount Tomah.

Today Governor General Marie Bashir will officially open Mount Tomah’s latest acquisition - a parcel of land described as one of the last surviving remnants of Gondwanaland.

The 33 hectare piece of land adjacent to Mount Tomah Botanic Garden, ‘The Jungle’ was purchased courtesy of the Environmental Trust, and supplemented by John B. Fairfax and his family.

The land is a microcosm of the 120-million-year-old ’supercontinent’ Gondwanaland, of which Australia was once a part.

The acquisition provides a secure base for the development of Mount Tomah Botanic Garden into the future and secures a block of temperate New South Wales rainforest for future generations.

http://www.mounttomahbotanicgarden.com.au/

An art competition with a twist challenges students, artists and members of the public to create something from nothing using waste.

Six Blue Mountains schools recently joined Blue Mountains City Council’s Waste to Art project creating a number of entries for the 2009 Waste to Art Competition and Exhibition.

“The Waste to Art project is an opportunity for students to think outside the square by collecting materials and thinking about how to create something amazing out of what would normally be thrown away,” Mayor Adam Searle said.

What started out as bottle tops, old CD’s, old umbrella’s, discarded wood, ring pulls etc ended up as jewellery pieces, belts, hats and beautiful artworks with the guidance of local ‘Scrapture’ artist, Kathy O’Hara.

“Rather than simply throwing away what we don’t need anymore, the concept behind the Waste to Art project is to think of all our waste as a potential resource,” Mayor Searle said.

“Instead of contributing to our ever-expanding landfill, we can avoid buying too many new things; re-use what we can; recycle, and in this case, create or re-fashion waste into a winning artwork.”

Closing date for Waste to Art Entry forms is Friday 20 March 2009 with the delivery of artworks due on Monday 30 March 2009. Anyone who lives in the Blue Mountains can enter - students, community members or professional artists. The challenge is to create something beautiful, interesting or useful from waste.

Winners will be chosen from each of the four categories as well as a Peoples’ Choice award with great prizes to be won. All winning artworks will then be taken to the Regional Exhibition with the overall winning prize worth hundreds of dollars.

Entry forms and information are available on request from Council by contacting (02) 4780 5000. Alternatively, click here to enter online download an application form.

Famous photographer Frank Hurley tackles the Blue Mountains the hard way in 1950.

Are you ready for a big challenge? May 2009 will see WildEndurance get underway, pitting teams of 4-6 against each other over a 48-hour period and 100 kilometres through the Blue Mountains National Park.?Registration is $120 per person, and each competitor, working with their team, will also raise an additional $400 in tax deductible sponsorship payable to The Wilderness Fund.?For more information, visit http://www.wildendurance.org.au

Roads Minister Michael Daley officially opened the $110 million upgrade of the Great Western Highway from Leura to Katoomba on Sunday, March 15, designed to improve traffic flow and road safety for motorists travelling to and from NSW’s central west. 

As part of the official opening Minister Daley, State Member for the Blue Mountains Phil Koperberg, Federal Member for Macquarie Bob Debus and key community members toured the newly completed section on a double-decker bus.

Mr Daley said the State Government funded project from Willow Park Avenue in Leura to Bowling Green Avenue, Katoomba was an important milestone in the highway upgrade and a win for local residents.

“Not only has this project created about 100 jobs for the local community, it will also have lasting benefits for the Blue Mountains community and motorists throughout NSW,” he said.

“The highway has now been widened by two extra lanes over this three kilometre section, increasing capacity for the 35,000 cars that use this section of the highway every day.

“Improvements to safety have always been a priority for this project, particularly for the local community who live on either side of this busy highway.

“A number of intersections have been upgraded to separate local traffic from the highway, with safe new accesses to the towns to encourage visitors into this beautiful part of NSW.

“I would like to thank the local community for their extensive input into this project throughout the planning, design and construction stages.

“Local knowledge goes along way and it really shows in this project.

“I’d also like to thank the State Member for the Blue Mountains Phil Koperberg and the Federal Member for Macquarie Bob Debus for their tireless work in making sure the entire highway gets the funding assistance it needs,” he said.

Mr Daley said the $560 million Great Western Highway upgrade involves widening the highway to four lanes between Emu Plains and Katoomba and to three lanes from Katoomba to Mount Victoria in most sections.

“So far 15 sections have been completed, and work is now starting on two new sections.

“Work on highway widening at Lawson between Bass and Ridge Streets to four lanes started last month to improve safety and traffic efficiency through the town,” he said.

The $220 million project is expected to finished in early 2011, weather permitting, and includes the upgrade of local intersections and new pedestrian/cycle paths to improve local road safety.

Mr Daley also announced that the contract for the Wentworth Falls East section of the highway upgrade had been awarded to Fulton Hogan.

“This means that work on this section can now start next month, providing more jobs for the local community as the upgrade of the Great Western Highway continues to roll out,” he said.

“Work on the $115 million Wentworth Falls section is due to finish in early 2012, and will include major improvements to local intersections as well as an off-road cycleway/footpath.

“Altogether, these projects will create or maintain over 500 full-time or part-time jobs,” Mr Daley said.

Mr Daley finished by saying he was extremely happy to be able to share these milestones with the community.

“This highway is of national importance, and we will continue working closely with the Federal Government to improve travel times and road safety for the people in Sydney’s west,” he said.