The hunt is on to find a regional partner for next year’s White Night after the state government said the all night festival of illumination would travel outside of Melbourne for the first time in 2017.

Pundits have delivered mixed reviews for White Night 2016, which drew an estimated 580,000 people to the city’s CBD on Saturday night. 

But the Andrews government said it remained committed to the event – saying it was a shot in the arm for traders and secured Victoria’s reputation as the premier state for cultural events. 

Minister for Tourism and Major Events John Eren said on Saturday that the festival would deliver a similar boost to the regional economy next year. 

“Nothing says Melbourne quite like White Night. It’s a great event for our city, and it delivers big benefits to our visitor economy too,” Mr Eren said.  

When Premier Daniel Andrews first floated the idea of taking the festival beyond Melbourne last year, he identified Bendigo as one of three potential options. 

"If you look at the great regional cities of Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo you can see that it would potentially work," the Premier said in August last year. 

Related: Does Bendigo need a White Night?

In that month the Bendigo Advertiser ran an online poll asking readers if they thought White Night would be a good investment for the city – 63 per cent said ‘yes’ to 32 per cent who said ‘no’. 

This time around we want to know which regional Victorian city you think would be the best host for the festival. 

The state government has said it will seek expressions of interest for the delivery of the festival in 2017 and that work is under way to identify a suitable host location.

Related: WIN: Bendigo at night | Photos

In September last year we ran a competition for the best photographs of Bendigo at night. We received 99 entries which featured buildings such as the Soldiers Memorial Hall, The Goldmines Hotel, The Capital Theatre, The Bendigo Art Gallery and, of course, the Sacred Heart Cathedral.