GREATER Bendigo cases have increased slightly overnight, with the region recording 176 new COVID-19 cases - the total active cases now at 923.

Meanwhile the Macedon Ranges recorded 63 new cases and the Campaspe Shire recorded 61.

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The Buloke Shire recorded just two new cases.

The Central Goldfields Shire recorded 13 and the Mount Alexander Shire recorded 23 new cases.

Victoria has recorded another 7779 new cases of COVID-19 overnight, taking the state's total active cases to 39,610.

The number was made up of 5270 rapid-antigen tests and 2509 positive PCR test results.

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Another eight people died with the virus.

There were 188 people were in hospital, with 32 in ICU and three on a ventilator.

Greater Bendigo recorded 167 new COVID-19 cases - the total active cases in the region dropping to 915.

A major light-based event will return to illuminate Bendigo almost four years after it first visited.

White Night Bendigo is set to return on September 3 with the city's central business district set to light up with an array of colourful installations.

The event first came to Bendigo in 2018. It delivered an estimated $5.5 million to the region's economy with an estimated 60,000 people attending.

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"Bendigo is one of Victoria's premier regional events destinations and White Night will again showcase the best our city has to offer," Bendigo East MP Jacinta Allan said.

Hopes the festival would return sooner were dashed with the coronavirus pandemic forcing the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 events.

"Welcoming back White Night to Bendigo is great news for locals, visitors and the region's tourism and hospitality businesses that are set to benefit from this spectacular event," tourism, sport and major events minister Martin Pakula said.

Creative kids will be in their element as the 150th Easter Fair committee seeks students to take on a dragon of a task.

To mark the momentous occasion, schools around Greater Bendigo are invited to show off their skills in a new competition.

Easter Fair Society secretary Debbie Henderson said there was no better way to celebrate the milestone event.

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"We wanted to get schools involved and invite them to design and create a dragon head of their own," she said.

"The Golden Dragon Museum is obviously a big part of the event so we thought it would be a fitting part to include in the competition."

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