ONE year passes, and another full of exciting events awaits.
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Bathurst will welcome a number of big sporting contests to the city in 2024 and we're already looking forward to quite a few of them.
Here are a number of events that are worth marking down on your calendar for the new year.
The Bathurst 500 (February 23)
THE fall of the Newcastle Supercars round sent organisers looking for a new round of racing in 2024, and Bathurst was more than happy to offer up Mount Panorama for a second time.
The Mount won't just play host to the Bathurst 1000 next year but it will also kick off the new season of racing with an event run over half that distance in February.
It's going to be a busy time at the track.
Racing will come just one week after the Bathurst 12 Hour takes place, which means racing fans are in for a treat.
Penrith Panthers vs Wests Tigers (April 20)
We've seen a decade of NRL action taking place in Bathurst at this point but the 2024 contest has the potential to have most exciting narrative behind it out of any game so far.
Many more eyes are sure to be on Carrington Park this year when the Penrith Panthers arrive because their former five-eighth, Jarome Luai, is rumoured to have joined forces with the Wests Tigers.
Those two sides will come together on April 20 - which marks the second time in a row this particular fixture has arrived in Bathurst - but if Luai makes the move to the Tigers then this meeting will be extra special.
Former NSW Blues havles partners Nathan Cleary and Luai would get to go head-to-head for the first time, and that's going to attract loads of attention from both local fans and travellers.
NSW Rugby Union City vs Country Carnival (July 28)
THE best of the best in NSW rugby will descend upon Ashwood Park in winter for the City-Country once again.
It's not the first time that Bathurst has had the opportunity to host this event, and last time in 2022 spectators were treated to a range of thrilling matches.
It will also be a great chance for some of the Central West's own top talent to showcase their skills if they can qualify for the NSW Country squads that will take part in the event.
Koori Knockout (October 4)
WHEN the Walgett Aboriginal Connection took out this year's Koori Knockout in a top class grand final against the Wiradjuri Aboriginal Rivers the question soon became where the next edition of the event would be held.
Then Bathurst NRL star and WAC player George Rose turned up at Mount Panorama to announce that the city would welcome thousands of fans for the next edition of the event in October.
It will mark 13 years since Walgett had the opportunity to host the knockout in Bathurst.
Bathurst won the hosting rights after WAC also had discussions with Dubbo Regional Council and Wagga Wagga City Council.
More than 150 teams are expected to attend next year's edition, while 30,000 spectators turned up to this year's event in Tuggerah.