Bendigo’s Easter Festival will return to a four-day format in 2020, when the city will celebrate 150 years of the biggest event on its calendar.
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Simon Mulqueen, president of the Bendigo Easter Fair Society and member of the Bendigo Easter Festival Reference Group, said the society had worked towards a big four-day celebration to mark the sesquicentenary for years.
Now the City of Greater Bendigo had endorsed it, he said, work could go ahead on mapping out how the festival would unfold.
“We feel the city itself deserves a big celebration for the 150th Easter Fair,” Mr Mulqueen said.
The change will mean the Gala Parade, the pinnacle of the festival for many, will be held on Easter Monday for the first time since 2010.
Mr Mulqueen said while the details were yet to be sorted, organisers would aim to include as much free entertainment as possible in the extra day.
Organisers were looking at bringing back historical events from the festival, he said, such as the Teddy Bears’ Picnic, and a 150th anniversary ball was likely.
But Mr Mulqueen said they would keep some surprises up their sleeves.
With details of the festival events yet to be finalised, Mr Mulqueen said it was unknown how much it would cost to put on the festival for the extra day.
But he said the Easter Fair Society had committed up to $100,000 for additional elements.
The four-day format is only confirmed for the 2020 festival.
Mr Mulqueen said it was understood the council would engage with the community after the 2020 festival to determine how the event would operate into the future.
“The Easter Fair has over 150 years reinvented itself… to stay relevant and exciting, so from that perspective, we want it to continue to evolve, and it will need to continue to evolve to keep people interested,” he said.
Being a community event, he said, this would depend on what the community wanted from it.
The 2020 festival will likely mark the second parade for the city’s new Imperial dragon, Dai Gum Loong.
The festival began in 1871 as a fundraiser for the Sandhurst Benevolent Asylum and Hospital and has since become Australia’s longest-running community festival, attracting some 80,000 people to the city.
City of Greater Bendigo mayor Margaret O’Rourke described the 150-year history of the event as “extraordinary”, and said it took the community back to its goldfields history and the contribution of the Chinese community.
The festival moved to a three-day event in 2011, when Easter Monday and Anzac Day fell on the same date.
Since then, some community events have been held on the Easter Monday, but the official program has run only from Good Friday to Easter Sunday.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
