The workshop, facilitated by Ikara Celebratory Events' Phil Relf, will be held at Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre [BMEC] on Saturday, July 2 from 12pm to 4pm.

Lanterns made during the workshop will be paraded from Keystone 1889 to Tremain's Mill later in the evening as part of a procession promoting Fast Cars and Dirty Beats, a musical comedy to launch early next year celebrating the significance of Wahluu-Mount Panorama to Bathurst.

Mr Relf said he's looking forward to returning to Bathurst and connecting with locals.

"We'll be looking to complete some of the larger lanterns that weren't finished last year, as well as create a number of new lanterns relevant to the project, including cars and birds," he said.

"Come Saturday night, we should have an excellent parade ready to go."

Mr Relf, who graduated from Charles Sturt University's theatre/media course in the early 1990s, considers Bathurst a second home, and jumped at the opportunity to work with Fast Cars and Dirty Beats writer and director Kate Smith on the project.

"I regard myself as no more than a facilitator for these workshops, as I pass on my knowledge of lantern making to members of the community who participate," he said.

"The participants draw upon their own experiences to manufacture the lanterns, and they've come up with a splendid array of designs so far.

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"Lantern making is a very straightforward process which invites children, parents and grandparents to work on either the same structure or their own ones. It's an easy activity to grasp."

Dr Smith said the lantern will play a vital role to build buzz for Mountain Tales, an immersive event at Tremain's Mill on the Winter Festival's opening night where local tales of Wahluu-Mount Panorama will be shared in anticipation for next year's Fast Cars event.

"Phil will see us right through to the end of the project when the site-specific performance of Fast Cars and Dirty Beats occurs at Wahluu-Mount Panorama in February next year," she said.

"This event [Mountain Tales] is a community component of the project that speaks specifically to stories of Wahluu people may never have heard before, including connection to Country, poetry by Alice Blackwood and details around 'Wiradyuri Ngyirr Ngurambang- Sacred Country' , an installation by local artist Nicole Welch in association with Wiradyuri elder Wirribee Leanna Carr-Smith."

Mountain Tales will be held from 5pm to 9pm on Saturday, July 2.

For more information about the lantern workshops, email boxoffice@bathurst.nsw.gov.au or call 6333 6161.

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