NEW initiatives trialed at the Bathurst Winter Festival last month look set to become permanent features of the event in years to come.
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Bathurst Regional Council is now in somewhat of a review stage, looking at what worked with the festival and where improvements can be made.
Acting mayor Bobby Bourke said the community, from general festival-goers to businesses, were encouraged to complete the YourSay survey to help with the review.
"We would love to hear your feedback," he said.
Given the open nature of the festival precinct, it is difficult to say exactly how many people attended over the two-week period.
However, council confirmed that ticket sales for the ferris wheel and carousel hit 40,000 this year, with more than 3,000 people attending the winter playground each day, excluding the two feature events.
Ignite the Night and Brew and Bite attracted more than 10,000 people to each of the events.
One of the changes at this year's event was the expansion of the winter festival precinct on the major nights to include one block of Keppel Street, and it appears it will be carried over to the next event after making a difference to the festival experience for patrons.
"This allowed for the large crowd numbers, making it easier to move around the festival site," Cr Bourke said.
"It is likely that the site will have a similar footprint next year."
Council also added kids only, adults only and experienced skaters only sessions to the ice rink, which were popular among patrons.
Cr Bourke said they were likely to be offered in 2020.
Two initiatives that worked hand-in-hand were an illumination site in Keppel Street for the Ways of Seeing project and Kick Off and Kick On at Keppel.
"The illumination site in Keppel Street gave people an opportunity to see more of the CBD and gave them an incentive to participate in Kick Off and Kick On at Keppel Street," Cr Bourke said.
With the event over, council's events team will start debriefing with the festival's suppliers and vendors.
It will also take on board feedback received from the public and research ways to add to the experience in 2020.
