Gold panning may no longer be the preferred way to mine, but the small town of Pine Creek is making sure the traditional art is not lost.
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The NT town built on gold is holding its annual Goldrush Festival this weekend.
For longer than Pine Creek's deputy Mayor Gaye Lawrence can remember - more than 20 at least - hundreds of people have flocked to the small town for the festival with one thing on their mind.
"People get really excited about the prospect of finding gold," the deputy Mayor said.
"It is not a cast of thousands, we are only a small town, but we have the same people year after year because they love it."
She has lived in Pine Creek for more than half of her life and has seen the town's fortunes rise and fall on the back of mining.
Through it all however, the festival has stood strong.
Starting it with another woman all those years ago, she said she wanted a way to attract people to the town almost 100 kilometres from Katherine with a nod to its history of gold mining.
Over the years the success has been dependent on grant funding, and whether mining companies were in town to sponsor the event.
This year, she said, the festival committee was fortunate to have rallied enough funds, because it isn't just the town that counts on the event.
Pine Creek is the only place in the NT to hold a panning championship, and people come from far and wide to participate.
"Every state in Australia has a gold panning championships and in the NT we have the honour of holding the event.
"It is synonymous with the origins of the town. We celebrate the heritage and the culture of the town.
"The reason Pine Creek is here is because of mining."
She said the festival is the glue that holds the community together, and while it was important to celebrate the town's history, it's also about passing on the skills from generation to generation.
"I see it as an important art to preserve."
Held the first weekend in June every year, the Goldrush Festival's main event, the NT Gold Panning Championships, starts tomorrow at around 9.30am.
Heats run all day before a grand champion is awarded the top prize.
The Chung Wah Dance Troupe will also be performing , highlighting the Chinese Heritage that formed Pine Creek during the Goldrush of the 1800's.
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