BENDIGO is set for a bumper weekend with about 2500 people including 1000 firefighters and their loved ones expected arrive for the 2015 Victorian State Urban Fire Brigades Championships.
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The event is the finale of the VFBV championship season, and will see fire brigade teams from all over the country - and for the first time a team from New Zealand - take part in the competition at Weeroona Oval.
Bendigo fire brigades including Kangaroo Flat, which won last year's state championship and will be defending its title this year, have been busy training up ahead of the event.
The event will see all teams take part in a traditional torchlight competition parade through the streets of Bendigo on Saturday at 8.30pm, while popular competitive events throughout the weekend include the fire ladder race, hose and ladder eight and champion fours.
Event organiser and Golden Square fire brigade's Barry Doye said the event was the "big one" of all the brigades' events for the year, which also doubled as a good social event.
"They start in late November doing their competitions around the regional area," he said.
"It’s fantastic to see that sort of coming together and sharing stories."
Victorian Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley and fire chiefs from around the country will be among the event's guests.
City of Greater Bendigo mayor Peter Cox said the games, along with the weekend's Bendigo International Madison cycling event, were popular events on Bendigo's calendar.
He said it was wonderful Bendigo was able to stage the competitive event again.
"I guess the ordinary person doesn't think about the firies having their own games, but that’s what it’s all about," he said.
City of Greater Bendigo major events manager Terry Karamaloudis said the event was a significant one for the town in terms of the tourism it brought.
"We like to embrace as many different associations and organisations as we can because it brings different people to the city," he said.
He said hosting the event drew competitors and their families to Bendigo from all over the country, some of whom would come back throughout the year as tourists.