Lions and dragon dance teams from all over Australia have descended on Bendigo to help the local Chinese association wake dragon Dai Gum Loong.
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Bendigo's Imperial dragon is the star of the Easter Sunday gala parade but demands a loud ceremony before he will even consider getting out of bed.
You can see even more pictures from the ceremony here:
Dance groups from Melbourne, Sydney, Darwin and Bendigo took part in the traditional Awakening the Dragon ceremony in the Dai Gum San precinct.
Other participants in the ceremony included a local Kung Fu class demonstration and a peacock dance by Eliza Nichols.
Not possible without supporters
Bendigo Chinese Association president Doug Lougoon organised and ran the event which ended with 100,000 firecrackers exploding in an effort to wake Dai Gum Loong.
Mr Lougoon thanked all volunteers and sponsors who helped make the awakening ceremony possible.
"We couldn't do (the ceremony) without them, our sponsors and supporters for 2024," he said.
"(It was) great skills all around."
There was a raffle and charity collection for Bendigo Health.
Dai Gum Loong will march in the Easter Sunday parade and will require around 130 people to act as his legs.
