Foundation Day

Event Program

Horse & Carriage Rides

Step back in time and enjoy a free scenic horse and carriage ride around the historic Parramatta North Cultural precinct. Arrive early to avoid the queue!

Foundation Day Parramatta Fair

Get excited – the fair is coming to town! The Foundation Day Parramatta Fair is a tribute to the first ever fair held in the country to NSW’s first agricultural society. Look forward to:

• Crochetables By Mandy
• Phyto Cosmetics
• suzARTe Creations
• Pascale from THE SPACE gallery
• Chorlotte van Ewyk
• Free face painting
• Roving hula hoop and bubble artist performers
• Stirring Stuff
• Sam the Caricaturist
• Aunty’s Ginger Tonic
• Lancer’s Marquee
• Museums of History NSW – participate as a convict servant and scrub the dirty washing by hand, then sign your own Ticket of Leave using a quill and ink!
• City of Parramatta Info booth
• Men’s Shed
• Lost Voices
• Parramatta Heritage Partners
• National Trust NSW

Petting Zoo

Are your kids lovers of furry farm animals? Bring the family along to pet and feed local animal friends including calf, sheep, goats, ducks, ducklings, chickens, guinea pigs, rabbits and piglets!

Make Your Own Hobby Horse and Compete in the Hobby Horse Race

Get into the racing spirit and decorate your own hobby horse to compete and take home! 

You’ll get the chance to win prizes for the most creative design and compete for the first-place ribbon at the First Annual Parramatta Foundation Day Hobby Horse race at 12.45pm at the Main Music Stage. The workshop will be hosted by George Buchanan, the winner of the television show ‘Making It Australia’.

Horse racing has a long history in Parramatta with unofficial races held at the main of George St as early as 1795 as well as official racing at sports carnivals, Parramatta Fairs and what would become Rosehill Racecourse. May the battle commence!

Prize categories include:

• Race - Young Foals (u12) Sash
• Race - Open category (12+) Sash
• Design - Best design - Fashion Parade - Ribbon 
• Design - Most unique design award - Ribbon 
• Encouragement Award - Ribbon

Live Music

Want to get your dance and groove on? Head over to the Bowling Green for a schedule of music performances including The Summer Street Band – a six-piece cover band, delivering a dynamic blend of contemporary hits and timeless classics you know and love. The Valley Voices Choir will also take the stage with a feel-good mix of popular songs welcoming all to join them in the celebration of singing. See the full stage program below:

9:45 - 10:00AM: Welcome to Country
10:00 - 10:30AM: Valley Voices Choir
10:45 - 11:30AM: Summer Street Band
11:45 - 12:30PM: Summer Street Band
12:45 - 1:00PM: Hobby Horse Race
1:00 - 1:30PM: Summer Street Band

Foundation Finds

Join PHIVE, Macquarie University and Pedestal 3D teams to unlock the mysteries of the past in the Western Sydney Start Up Hub Foyer. Take a look at digital replicas of Parramatta’s historic artefacts and compare them to the real-life artefacts from Parramatta’s collection.

You can also uncover Parramatta’s rich history via the interactive touch wall display at the Western Sydney Start Hub foyer and deep dive into the personal stories, events and facts about the historic North Parramatta precinct. 

Foundation Talks

Join a talk to discover and learn about Parramatta’s past directly from historical and archival experts.

• 10:00AM: Lost Voices - Ghosts in the Walls: Kamballa and the Parramatta Lunatic Asylum
  Sandie Jessamine (Lost Voices)

  Hear a profile of a young girl who was held at the Parramatta Lunatic Asylum (information from NSW State Archives) and an overview of teenage girls with mental illness held at Kamballa, including Sandie Jessamine herself. The talk will also focus on how the memory of place exists as ghost fragments and the energy of traumatic memory and states of mental illness continue to reside in places where they occur.

• 10:45AM: Foundations To Success - Parramatta The Cradle City Of Firsts
  Gary John Carter

  Join Gary Carter as he officially launches his new book which gives an introduction to 100 local Parramatta achievements. Join Gary for a chat and a signed copy of his book in the Parramatta Female Factory Friends Research Centre after his talk.

• 11:30am: The Crimes of Convict Women
  Judith Dunn OAM

  Judith is a Councillor of the Royal Australian Historical Society, past president of Parramatta Historical Society, she has been convenor of the Historic Graves Committee for Parramatta for 40 years. Judith is a foundation member of Friends of the Female Factory and received her OAM for services to history and heritage. Her talk will reveal the feisty nature of convict women, noted in the official records as, “the very dregs of society”. Far from just stealing a loaf of bread, these convict women were up to all sorts of mischief. All stories relate to crimes committed which resulted in them being incarcerated in the Parramatta Female Factory.

• 12:15PM: 3D Digitisation of Parramatta’s History
  Michael Rampe (Pedestal Macquarie University)

  Michael Rampe is the Learning Design Production Lead in the Faculty of Arts at Macquarie University and the founder of Pedestal 3D and Rampe Realistic Imaging. Michael works at the intersection of state of the art imaging, technology, learning and GLAM across a very wide range of disciplinary areas where he will explain the digitisation project, the aims, and some of the methods used to create the state of the art digital replicas of the cultural heritage of the City of Parramatta.

• 1:15PM: Talking Tombstones - Voices from Parramatta's Foundation Days
  Kerima-Gae Topp

  Kerima-Gae Topp, local historian and heritage tour operator, will take you on a ‘lively’ journey visiting Parramatta’s historic cemeteries, including Australia’s oldest remaining cemetery which contains Australia’s oldest existing tombstone that is still in situ, dating from 1791. Hear stories from the foundation days of the colony, that include the regals, the respected, the rascals and the rogues.

Foundation Tours

The Parramatta North Cultural Precinct is home to some of the country’s most iconic heritage buildings and spaces that have shaped our present day. Hosted by the Parramatta Female Factory Friends, join a free historic tour around the precinct by signing up at the information booth at the event. Get there early to secure your spot! See tour sessions below:

• 10:00 - 10:45AM
• 11:00 - 11:45AM
• 1:30 - 1:15PM

Foundation Films

Take a seat and discover prominent Parramatta People through a series of short documentaries. The short films with feature historic figures such as Baludarri, Betty Eckles, Billy Heart, George Salter, James Houison & Matron Gordon.

Levi the Village Blacksmith

Blacksmithing since 1999, Levi is trained in traditional forging as well as modern industrial blacksmithing. He may make anything from a piece of jewellery to a horseshoe, or even a replica piece from film and television. He loves sharing his knowledge and enjoys answering questions about history of metallurgy! So come and watch him work on a 200 year old anvil, making something practical or beautiful items, and learn about the art of forging.

Lancers

Take a unique opportunity to get up close and personal to a heritage fleet of armored fighting vehicles on display by Lancer Barracks, Parramatta. The Lancer Museum will be bringing two vehicles. A four ton ferret scout car, a long wheel based Land Rover and a large display table. 

Parramatta Female Factory Friends Research Centre

The PFFF research centre is the only resource that provides specifically face to face, digital & online history information for the Parramatta Female Factory women, life in the factory and site history. Come inside and check out:

• Research: Family history enquiries
• Resources: PFFF Library Collection & the Babette Smith Library Collection
• Exhibition: Antiquities and Artefacts, as well as display boards and cabinets of rare and unique items, unique ‘herstory’ publications and merchandise sales, bric a brac.

Food and Beverage

Alongside Havenstone Café, the onsite café serving delicious coffee and dine in and takeaway options, there will be plenty more on offer for every taste and appetite. Blacksmith Coffee Roasters will also be giving away FREE coffee to the first 100 attendees – the early bird gets the worm! Food and beverage stalls at Foundation Day will include:

• Havenstone Café
• Matron Gordon Tea House
• Blacksmith Coffee
• Spud Life
• Bar Coco – Ice Cream
• Parramatta Female Factory Friends Sausage Sizzle

Acknowledgement of Country

For over 60,000 years the Parramatta area has been home of the Burramattagal people, a clan of the Dharug, who settled along the upper reaches of the Parramatta River. City of Parramatta respectfully recognises the Traditional Owners of the land and waters of Parramatta, the Dharug people, and pay our respects to the Elders past, present and emerging. We extend our respect to all First Nations people visiting these sites.