Premier Daniel Andrews held a press conference late on Wednesday night - the first day of the festival - instructing new requirements around face masks and public gatherings.

Co-directors Howard Penny and Chris Howlett said those changes put everyone involved in the festival on edge.

Read other news:

"It was definitely a stress moment," Mr Howlett said. "It was almost going to be the perfect storm because we have spent months putting this together.

"For us to have done the first concert and to have paid for everything... we didn't get very much sleep.

"But as you have to in the COVID-world, we got up on the Thursday and made a whole lot of scenarios. And then we just had to wait and see what happened."

Mr Howlett said they only had to make slight changes to the program to ensure the artists could perform before any potential border closures or further restrictions.

The music festival already had a range of restrictions in place, including a 50 per cent audience capacity for each performance.

"We want things to be safe," Mr Penny said. "It was a case of everyone working together and making it practical and safe at the same time."

Read more: Bendigo Chamber Music Festival launches its second year with performance at The Capital

There were also a number of workshops available for Bendigo performers as part of the festival.

Musician Cally Bartlett took part in one of those events on Saturday morning at the Capital Theatre.

"It's exciting to see live music back and to have a busy month ahead is really good," she said. "I know musicians in Melbourne and locally are really pleased to be back into playing."

Mr Howlett said despite the challenges, the festival had been a success.

"You just need an amazing team and an amazing number of contingencies," he said. "A major event has so many working parts.

"We all have to be talking the same language and talking multiple times. There were emails flying around on Wednesday night at about 1am. That's how you have to be able to do it."

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.