Bendigo to host new winter light show Awaken

City of Greater Bendigo tourism and events marketing manager Glenn Harvey said a desire to bring more visitors to the region during winter was behind the development of the Awaken event.

"This is something we've been looking at for a couple of years now - of how we could have an event that would draw visitation to Bendigo and encourage overnight stays.," he said.

"We identified that as an opportunity with the school holidays being during that period and we thought that, based on the success of White Night in winter a few years ago, we thought perhaps we knew that people would come out for an amazing adventure in the colder months."

He said the city would be working with traders to encourage them to open later and support the event.

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"We aren't planning on having any food vendors in the park," he said. "We'll be encouraging locals and visitors to support our local businesses, but they can take-away from our local businesses and have food in the park."

Mr Harvey said people visiting awaken should allow about an hour to see the displays that would be spread throughout the park.

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A new winter light event will be held in Bendigo's Rosalind Park during June and July.

The City of Greater Bendigo has unveiled plans for the Awaken event, described as a "spectacular show combining unique sensory, hologram and immersive laser light experiences".

The light display will be part of a winter-themed campaign titled Ignite.

It will be held from June 26 until July 17.

"Awaken and other planned events will appeal to our community and visitors from Melbourne and Sydney, particularly during the school holidays," the city's acting strategy and growth director Terry Karamaloudis said.

"Being an evening event, it will encourage visitors to stay overnight in our region and explore all the great things we have on offer."

The White Night event, which is due to return to Bendigo on October 2, has shown there is a strong appetite locally for night-time sound and light shows.

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As part of Awaken, faces projected on trunks will tell the trees' stories and there will be holograms of flora and fauna, the city said.

The Rosalind Park poppet head will be lit up and there will be references to Bendigo's Indigenous and Chinese histories.

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