THE Hargreaves Mall had scarcely been this busy in years.
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Scores of residents turned out last Saturday on a perfect spring evening to experience Bendigo’s inaugural Moonlight Market.
Some estimate as many as 6000 people descended on the mall, sampling the street food and browsing the stalls.
The only criticism that could possibly be levelled at the event was that it was a victim of its own unexpected success.
The sheer number of people clearly took organisers by surprise, but no one should be deterred from attending the next edition.
The Moonlight Market is a perfect example of how a band of people with a great idea and the determination to see it through can create something special.
It is precisely this sort of spirit the City of Greater Bendigo and Make a Change Australia hope to foster when hosting the Places for Change discussion in a fortnight’s time.
The event is aimed at giving locals the opportunity to present ideas for reinvigorating Bendigo’s central business district.
Be it a proposal for a one-off event catering to a niche market or something appealing to the masses, no idea will be dismissed without due consideration.
It could just be that Bendigo’s next great annual tourist-attracting, money-generating event emerges from the session.
Tamworth’s country music festival and Parkes’ Elvis festival all started from humble beginnings and now pump millions each year into their city’s respective economies.
Or it might simply be something that allows Bendigonians with a common interest to come together and enjoy each other’s company.
The underlying purpose of the session is to see how Bendigo’s numerous and unique public spaces – from parks to malls to alley ways – can be better utilised.
The key to the initiative’s success will be attracting a broad cross-section of people from the community to participate.
In this respect, it is heartening that Year 10 students from Catholic College Bendigo will talk to their school project on changing perceptions of the Hargreaves Mall.
Places of Change is a terrific concept that could have a profoundly positive impact on the Bendigo community.
- Ross Tyson, deputy editor