THE impersonators and the enthusiasts have left the building after the running of another successful Elvis Festival at Parkes, but they have left plenty of their cash behind.
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What has to be the most unlikely of the Central West’s major events – a festival in a hot western town in the middle of summer where participants are encouraged to dress in wigs and jumpsuits – has again drawn thousands and given the host town’s businesses an economic injection that will sustain some of them for months.
Successful festivals and events, some old and some relatively recent, are dotted all over our region – from Ironfest at Lithgow to the ABBA Festival at Trundle, with FOOD Week at Orange and the Bathurst Winter Festival in between.
Our July festival, which began as a way of encouraging hibernating Bathurstians to get out of the house during the coldest, most miserable part of winter, has exploded in the past couple of years, drawing thousands to Kings Parade and Machattie Park.
The food queues at this year’s major festival evenings drew plenty of criticism, but those delays were less about poor planning and more about the fact council was caught off-guard by the sheer number of people who turned up.
If there was ever any doubt, the past few years have proven that residents of Sydney will travel to the Central West if you can put on an event that’s accessible to them and fun.
Bathurstians are very aware of what Sydney, just a morning’s drive over the Blue Mountains, can offer them: beaches, shopping, big sporting events.
But in the past few years, maybe it’s started to properly dawn on us what we – and our region – can offer Sydney.
There are almost five million of them in the metropolitan basin and we know now that some of them are happy to drive out here to ice-skate in Kings Parade, watch jousting in Lithgow or sing Dancing Queen with their arms around each other in Trundle.
If we get the festival settings right, they will fill up our motels, pack out our cafes and restaurants and thank us on the way out of town for showing them such a good time.
At the moment, our various Central West festivals largely work independently – though very successfully.
There may come a time, however, when we pool resources, know-how and expertise. And who will be able to resist us then?