Roaring success: Katoomba became a sea of colour during the Winter Magic parade on Saturday.
Katoomba put on a show to remember on Saturday as tens of thousands of people packed the town for the annual Winter Magic Festival.
There was little room to move on Katoomba Street as festival-goers explored the myriad of market stalls while performance stages were packed with people eager to get a glimpse of the mainly local acts on offer.
Festival director Michael Brischetto said the parade was once again the centrepiece of the day as the impressive array of colourful marchers made their way up Waratah and Katoomba streets.
“The parade was one of the great highlights actually. It was probably the largest parade we’ve ever had, there were over 700 participants and we were very pleased this year to be joined by the mounted police and the motorcycle police,” said Mr Brischetto.
There were 14 performance stages set up for the day and the Blue Mountains talent did not disappoint.
“Every venue I went to visit was full so that was great,” said Mr Brischetto.
A record number of more than 230 stalls were also available for visitors to purchase all sorts of goods and food from around the world.
If the clean-up job the next day was anything to go by then it must have been a good day for traders.
“There was plenty of mess to clean up next morning so it looked like they sold a lot,” said Mr Brischetto.
While the chill in the air left festival-goers in little doubt that it was winter, the blue skies made for great weather for the day and ensured overall numbers were at near record levels.
Organisers estimate the crowd was in excess of 40,000 which would represent one of the largest turnouts for the festival.
That number could grow next year after CityRail senior managers sent to assess the festival were left impressed by the visitor numbers and pledged to put on extra services in 2013 to make the journey from Sydney easier.