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GALLERY: Adults Only Easter egg hunt
THE Bendigo Easter Festival got off to a cracking start yesterday with the Vision Australia Easter Egg Hunt a sell-out.
About 3000 people took to the straw-filled pen in Rosalind Park to search for more than 80,000 chocolate eggs.
Vision Australia Bendigo manager Ruth O'Connell said money raised from the hunt would be fed back into the Bendigo organisation to support its services.
"We provide services for people who are blind or with low vision," she said.
"Our job is to keep people independent in their community or at school, if they are at school, or within their job, if they work.
"(Our job is) keeping them independent or independent in their own home (and giving them the ability) to do tasks that everyone else does."
An adult-only hunt was a new addition to the event this year, with organisers adding a twist - participants were required to wear a blindfold.
Ms O'Connell said the purpose of the blindfold was to show people what it was like to be visibly impaired.
"We wanted to promote to the general public what it is like to be vision impaired and to try and do an Easter egg hunt or any daily task," she said.
"It was a little bit about promotion and educating people about vision loss."
Vision Australia chief executive Ron Hooton, who was in Bendigo for the hunt, said the services the organisation provided were, for many clients, life changing.
"The sorts of services we provide make them much more independent, to the point where they hold down jobs," he said.
"The support the organisation offers is vital to the community."
Meanwhile, families enjoyed several other activities in Rosalind Park including a petting zoo, music and dance workshops, and a vintage car display.
Visit www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au to see more photos from the egg hunt.