The Bendigo Advertiser can reveal just how close the parade came to not having enough firecrackers, in an illustration of the strain on the industry.

Organisers spent a month fruitlessly scrounging for the supplies amid dwindling stockpiles in Australia, Bendigo Fireworks owner Peter Daley said.

"We almost had zilch, nothing," he said on Good Friday.

"It was going to be a very quiet Easter. It was getting scary."

The Bendigo Chinese Association would have had just enough firecrackers for Easter Saturday's ceremony to wake imperial dragon Dai Gum Loong.

It would have needed to ration what it had by canning plans for the explosives at other Easter events despite the Chinese tradition of using them to drive away evil spirits, association president Doug Lougoon said.

"We'd sort of resigned ourselves to not having enough," Mr Lougoon said.

Mr Daley was calling every contact he had made over two decades in the industry to see who could help.

It took until 5pm on Wednesday before a contact in Melbourne confirmed they had 5000 firecrackers.

They had been able to spare some because one of their contacts found room and moved around one of their deliveries, Mr Daley said.

The load of elusive crackers arrived in Bendigo the day before the festival began and a crew was hard at work getting everything ready on Good Friday.

Mr Daley did not know why it had been so difficult to get firecrackers for 2024 but said it was part of a wider trend in recent times.

"I think it's supply and demand," he said.

Demand for firecrackers had dwindled in Australia because so few groups could legally store or use them, Mr Daley said.

He supplies both firecrackers and storage magazines free-of-charge to the Bendigo Chinese Association for the festival.

It was an example of the way many businesses supported the most important cultural event on the city's calendar, Mr Daley said.

It underlined how important it was that local businesses got government support through contracts and tenders, especially at a time when many were going to the wall, he said.

Times are difficult in the fireworks industry. Costs have spiralled after COVID-19, prompting groups like the City of Greater Bendigo to look to Melbourne for a recent New Year's Eve fireworks contract.