WAS it really 12 months ago that the news broke that rock royalty Sir Elton John was going to play a show at Carrington Park?
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Was it really 12 months ago that a lot of people in Bathurst had to be convinced that the news about Sir Elton wasn't an elaborate, ridiculous hoax?
We've all had a year to get used to it, so it's easy to forget there was a healthy dose of scepticism when the announcement was made in early February last year, not helped by the fact the global musical icon was supposedly bringing his farewell tour extravaganza to our local rugby league ground.
But Sir Elton was and he soon will be.
In fact, we're into the final straight now: it's less than a week before the big show, which is set to be unlike anything Carrington has seen before.
Council has made it clear for some time that it will not be organising events in association with the Sir Elton show and, with just a week or so before the first notes ring out, that remains the case.
There won't be a street party or a business lunch, as was the case in Mackay, though there is a window display competition.
Council has obviously weighed up the time and cost of organising and running ancillary events and found - for whatever reason, and one possibility is that many of the people attending the show will only be staying in the city for one night or not at all - that the benefits do not justify the effort.
Some local businesses are instead putting on their own events, which will go some way towards creating an atmosphere, but only in a piecemeal way.
Barring a sudden outbreak of Sir Elton fever next Wednesday morning, it does feel, at this late stage, as if an opportunity has been lost.
It's not every day that thousands of people, a small army of production crew and a pop music icon all arrive in the city. It feels like an opportunity for a party that begins well before next Wednesday.
But then again, maybe the show's the thing.
By all accounts, Sir Elton will be doing everything in his power to ensure those at Carrington Park have the time of their life. And as they're singing along to Rocket Man, mobiles in the air, they won't be wondering why Bathurst Regional Council didn't put on a Sir Elton-themed CBD street party.
They'll be hoping that the show - and the night - never ends.
