KHAKI was the new black for Ballarat Heritage Weekend. Or perhaps, given the historic nature of the festival, "the old black".
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Either way, Lydiard Street paid tribute to "A Century of Service" with sights and sounds from across the many decades of Australia's military history.
There were uniforms, military displays and the upbeat big band sound of swing popularised during the early part for the Second World War.
And if anyone needed any further hint as to this year's theme - two imposing Centurion main battle tanks, parked among a dozen or so assorted olive drab vehicles. Because nothing quite says "military" like a pair of 52-tonne tanks.
Fortunately for the City of Ballarat's roads department the Centurions were trucked in, rather than driven. Each rested upon a roll of rubber to protect the surface.
One owned by Rob Emmins was a veteran of the Vietnam War. However its Rolls-Royce Meteor V12 engine still purred as Mr Emmins fired it up for an admiring public, particularly those of the sub-12-year-old variety.
Dwarfed by the tanks were the other vehicles, ranging from Willys Jeeps and Land Rovers to 6 x 6 trucks and Desert Storm era Humvees.
Older festival goers admired the assorted fashions sported by other enthusiasts. Not all were of the military variety, as evidenced by one particularly dapper young chap in a grey suit, but bonus points to three pin-up girls who were rocking their war-time greens.
The at-times inhospitable weather drove some inside. Inside the Ballarat Mining Exchange the displays were war era telecommunications, pennants and "trenches" manufactured from cardboard. They may not have provided much cover but at least those inside were sheltered from the wind and rain.