Parade couldn’t help but notice that local pacing fans may be among those not wanting to miss the game after seeing Wednesday night’s pacing events have been brought forward.

The first race is normally at 6pm, although in winter it can be a little earlier.

However, the first race this Wednesday begins at 4.06pm and is aptly titled the “Go The Blues Three-Year-Old Pace”.

The last race of the night is at 7.20pm, giving punters plenty of time to watch the horses and still be home for kick-off.

A friend of Parade, who has returned to uni, got an email from their lecturer reminding them of an online tutorial on Wednesday night, which begins at the time of the game’s kick-off.

The lecturer apologised to the “diehard” league fans for the timing, but said the tutorial should be over by the time the second half begins, so they can at least watch the end of the game.

However, she did hedge her bets and said to students that anyone who is unable to make the lesson can watch a recorded version of the tutorial at a later date.

A FRIEND of Parade was among the crowd who braved Saturday’s freezing weather to have a look at Ignite the Night in Machattie Park.

While the weather was miserable, the display was literally amazing, and a real credit to everyone involved at any level in bringing the event to the city.

While the cold and miserable weather no doubt put a small percentage of people off from attending the event, the friend looked on the bright side: it meant far shorter queues for people lining up at the various hot food stalls in Kings Parade as well as all the other attractions that were operating on the night.

For the record, the friend said the taco stall was amazing, as was the fairy floss. They were both so good the friend went back for seconds for both.