The Sacred Heart Cathedral's administrator, the Very Reverend Brian Boyle, said it was wonderful to hold in-person services for the most important period in the Christian calendar.

"I was sitting here, this morning, thinking that last year all we could do was an online service at St Kilian's," he said.

"Even with that gathering, we could only have very small numbers of attendees."

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This year, Sacred Heart is running the full suite of Easter events at Sacred Heart and two other churches Dr Boyle administrates.

Those services began on Thursday night and would continue through to Sunday.

"I'm hoping for good attendance all through the weekend, but particularly for Easter Sunday's morning service," Dr Boyle said.

"The weather will likely be fairly good and we have a lot of visitors coming into Bendigo."

All events will be COVID-safe, Dr Boyle said.

He does not expect crowds to be so large that organisers will need to manage crowds at Sacred Heart, though a contingency plan has been drafted for people to stand in certain areas.

Plans may be needed for smaller churches in Quarry Hill and Kangaroo Flat.

Dr Boyle said congregations at those venues had become creative in finding ways to safely gather for busier church services.

That included opening up outdoor areas at Kangaroo Flat and supplying extra seating.

"Our rule of thumb is to not turn people away," Dr Boyle said.

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