Monday marked 1000 days until the 150th Bendigo Easter Fair.
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Planning has already begun for the 2020 fair but Bendigo Easter Fair President Simon Mulqueen said he wanted to encourage the community to think about the celebrations.
“From our point of perspective, planning has already begun but there is a lot to do and a lot to pull together,” he said.
“The idea of the countdown is to start getting a community conversation going about it.”
Mr Mulqueen said the 150th anniversary was a major milestone.
“We had big celebrations for the 120th and 140th anniversaries but they will pale in significance to this celebration,” he said.
“A lot of things we have had in the past that will come back for a one-off (appearance) but there's also a lot of new stuff we want to do as well.”
The Bendigo Easter Fair is the longest continuously-running festival in Australia.
The first fair was held in 1871 with planning beginning at the Shamrock Hotel on New Year’s Day in 1871. It was originally established to the Sandhurst (Bendigo) Hospital and the Benevolent Asylum.
“A lot of festivals stopped at various points, particularly during the war, but the Bendigo Easter Fair didn't,” Mr Mulqueen said.
“The government’s view was that it was important to keep life travelling along in a semi-standard sort of way.”
The next three Easter fairs will hold special significance with 2018 expected to be Chinese dragon Sun Loong’s last solo appearance.
His replacement Dai Gum Loong is expected to debut in 2019 ahead of the 150th Easter fair in 2020.
“The Easter Fair Soceity contributed $10,000 towards the new dragon,” Mr Mulqueen said.
“(The new dragon) is due in 2019, so he will have a good practice run ahead of 2020.
“We hope to have a big contingent of Chinese Association members involved along with the dragons. They have been part of Easter fair since its beginning.”