Bendigo had no shortage of major events while there was a number of projects took more steps forward.

Later in the year, natural disasters held the state's focus and the whole time the Bendigo Advertiser was there reporting back to its readers.

This year, no other event loomed larger than the Elvis exhibition arriving in Bendigo.

Elvis: Direct From Graceland opened at the Bendigo Art Gallery in March with the king of pop's former wife Priscilla Presley opening the show.

Featuring artefacts, keepsakes and mementos from every part of Elvis' life and the show was the biggest exhibition the Bendigo Art Gallery has ever done.

It also proved the gallery's most successful exhibition ever with a record-breaking 219,000 people coming to Bendigo for it.

After Elvis, the Bendigo Art Gallery also progressed its planned development by unveiling designs and also announcing the cost of the project had doubled.

WHEN Russia invaded Ukraine during 2022, Bendigo had no idea it would play such an important part in it.

The connection came when Australia committed 40 Bendigo-built Bushmasters to assist Ukraine.

In July, Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko visited Thales Bendigo to thank the company and Bendigo for its support.

He called the Bendigo-built Bushmasters a symbol of military support in Ukraine.

"They are proving to be crucial to our battle plan and I am honoured to be able to travel to Bendigo and sincerely thank the men and women that build the Bushmasters," Mr Myroshnychenko said.

Following a tour of the facility, Mr Myroshnychenko also visited Bendigo Town Hall where he met with displaced Ukrainians who had taken refuge in Australia.

AFTER years of work, the Bendigo Airport upgrade launched this year with three levels of government turning the sod on the project in August.

Federal funding for the project was guaranteed in January with the upgrade including new departure and waiting lounges, expanded car parking facilities, a security screening area, a baggage claim, an expanded cafe and restroom facilities.

City of Greater Bendigo chief executive Craig Niemann said the upgrade will also increase the potential for more airline carriers to use the regional facility or for Qantas to offer more routes to Bendigo.

"We've had further conversations with (Qantas) already about Adelaide and south-east Queensland - whether that's the Gold Coast or Brisbane," he said.

"We have actually mentioned Canberra, and whether there's an opportunity to fly in and out of Canberra on specific occasions."

In what would have been a special moment for the Dja Dja Wurrung and other First Nations communities in the region, a documentary years in the making premiered this year.

Documentary Lake of Scars by journalist-turned-filmmaker Bill Code premiered in Sydney in early 2022 before enjoying a premiere at Eaglehawk's Star Cinema in May.

The film examines the mutual respect and friendship between the First Nations people and local residents that developed during efforts by historian Paul Haw and Yung Balug clan member and educational tour operator Jida Gulpilil to preserve the scar trees near Boort.

The area around Lake Boort contains Australia's highest concentration of scar trees.

When SES volunteers Trent Ross and Braden Verity were travelling between jobs during floods, they last person they expected to find was Marlene Wing-Quay.

Ms Wing-Quay was swept away by floodwaters on her way home to Woodvale. She escaped her car but then had to wade through floodwaters for 90 minutes before finding a road and hailing down the first car she found.

That car contained Ms Ross and Mr Verity who swiftly took action to rescue and care for Ms Wing-Quay.

"A lot of things aligned that night to get us in that spot," Mr Ross said. "Any later and we would have turned around because the water was too strong there to drive through.

"We would have turned around and potentially not seen anybody there."

After their October rescue, the SES volunteers and Ms Wing-Quay reunited in December.

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