Thousands of people are set to head to Bendigo for a month of festivals that will pour millions of dollars into the local economy.
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March is shaping as 'festival month' as the Bendigo Art Gallery's latest blockbuster on Paris launches, the city gets set to celebrate Pride and the much-loved Dahlia festival returns for its 51st year.
The country's biggest touring barbecue/country music festival hits town on March 16-17 when Meatstock takes over the Bendigo Showgrounds.
The run of events follows a bumper Labour Day long weekend that brought large crowds to the Harcourt Applefest and Lost Trades Fair, as well as the Heathcote Harvest Festival and Bendigo International Madison.
And that's just the beginning
That was a taste of what's to come with the Bonjour Bendigo campaign launched for the Bendigo Art Gallery's Paris: Impressions of Life 1880-1925 exhibition which opens on Saturday, March 16.
For the next five months Bendigo will embrace all things French from macaroon cooking classes to painting activities, Eiffel Tower-themed shop windows and displays of the European country's tricolour flag.
In amongst that is the Eaglehawk Dahlia and Arts Festival will be on from March 15-17.
The Bendigo Pride Festival will run for the next fortnight with events celebrating LGBTQIA+ peoples' place in the community.
On Sunday, March 24, the All Holden and GM Day will see classic Australian cars gather at the Bendigo Showgrounds.
And the month wraps up with Bendigo's biggest show of all - the Bendigo Easter Festival.
Starting on Good Friday, everything from Easter Egg hunts, book fair, art shows and carnival rides to live music, torchlight parades and Easter Sunday's main parade featuring one of the world's longest Chinese dragons marching down the street to a crowd of thousands.
Billion dollar industry
At the start of 2024, Bendigo Tourism chair Kath Bolitho was excited about the year ahead.
She pointed to Tourism Research Australia statistics which highlighted the quarterly visitation results for the year ending September 2023 for Bendigo Loddon region.
It showed $1 billion was spent in the region's economy resulting in an 11 per cent growth compared to the previous year, and a 42 per cent growth compared to 2019 (pre COVID-19 Pandemic).
There were 4.2 million visitors to the region, a five per cent growth compared to the previous year and a minus five per cent growth compared to 2019 (pre COVID-19 Pandemic).
"2019 was our best visitation year in our history (4.4 million visitors) and 2023 has been the second-best year of visitation in our history," Ms Bolitho said.
Also there were 2.9 million visitor nights representing a three per cent growth compared to the previous year, and a 14 per cent growth compared to 2019 (pre COVID-19 Pandemic).
