IT wouldn't have been the easier option, so Bathurst Regional Council deserves credit for pushing ahead with the Bathurst Winter Festival this year.
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The easier option, presumably, would have been to skip 2020 and promise to be back bigger and better than ever in 2021 - an option taken by the organisers of a number of events (and sporting competitions) in our region in the face of the coronavirus restrictions.
What makes our winter festival special are the events that bring us into close proximity - the ice-rink and the Saturday night spectaculars in the CBD, when thousands cram together to eat, drink and see the light displays - so there would have been no shame in saying the festival simply wasn't viable this year.
Instead, going ahead this year with a retooled festival, featuring a drive-in cinema and the usual illuminations and some online events, achieves two important things.
First, it reinforces the city's shifting attitude about the long, often dreary Bathurst winter.
The festival has been responsible in recent years in making the coldest, darkest period of the year a celebration, rather than a mutual commiseration - and that's been a remarkable achievement.
What seemed a novelty - perhaps even a bit silly - in the festival's early days has quickly become a social highlight: a time to welcome visitors or meet up with friends at the ice-rink or the food stalls in the CBD.
It's drawn people out of their homes and away from their lounges and heaters.
It's nice not to see that lost this year - even if on a much smaller scale.
The other reason is continuity and perception.
Council has worked hard to promote the festival beyond Bathurst's borders and to get it on the calendar with other major events in the region.
That gain has been hard won, and taking a year off might have risked having the festival forgotten by some of those who have been interested in the past or will be interested in the future.
A slimmed-down festival this year isn't ideal, but it is worthwhile. It's just one of many compromises being made in the time of coronavirus.
If this year's festival is just a placeholder until things return to normal, then so be it.
If we don't mark the place, there is always the danger that someone might take it from us.