THE Bathurst Winter Festival has wrapped up for another year and the two-week event has been declared a success despite strict COVID restrictions imposed at the worst possible time.
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Just as the festival was set to start, regional NSW was put under the strictest restrictions it had encountered since COVID hit.
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Councillor Graeme Hanger said the festival was still a success.
"Considering the circumstances, it was brilliant. There were people out and about the whole fortnight," he said.
"We were very blessed that we were able to continue because some of the ice-rinks in Sydney had to close and we're very, very lucky that we got it in when we did."
Although some events had to be cancelled, most of the festival went ahead as scheduled with some restrictions on numbers.
"Last weekend they had the restricted silent disco for the little ones, which was fantastic," Cr Hanger said.
"And the work that's going on at the courthouse slightly restricted [the festival] but we worked around it and everything was fine."
Although Sydneysiders weren't able to make the trip through the mountains, residents of the Central West were still able to attend the festival and enjoy the shows, tours and activities.
Cr Hanger thanked the sponsors and vendors for their support and the local businesses for going the extra mile in helping make the festival a success.
"We lost the Sydney market but the local businesses all benefited and we thank them profusely for staying open and remaining open and making a big effort; some of the coffee shops and restaurants stayed open longer than they normally do," he said.
"We also thank the sponsors, Groove and Grill and McDonald's and the young musicians too ... playing at various venues around town.
"The weekend vendors were happy. We had to cut back numbers for that, but the fact that we could go ahead in a slightly limited way is fantastic.
"We're thrilled with the final results considering the circumstances."
The festival was held in a pared-back form last year due to COVID.