As the city prepares to welcome more than 40,000 people into the CBD for tomorrow’s celebrations, Victorian Tourism Minister John Eren has stopped short of guaranteeing the event’s long term future.

With both Bendigo and Geelong set to host similar events later in the year, Mr Eren said the State Government would sit down once all White Night’s were completed to determine their future around the state.

“It’s proven to be a success last year and we’re sure it will be a success this year,” Mr Eren said.

“Last year we decided to take it to the regions because we believe it is important that regional cities don’t miss out on the benefits events like this bring to the city.

“Going froward we’ll make sure Ballarat doesn’t miss out on major events that bring money to the region.”

Mayor Samantha McIntosh said Ballarat was proving it can compete on the world stage.

“We have a wonderful platform to stage a spectacular event,” Ms McIntosh said. 

“It brings our buildings to life, our history to life, and creates a vibrancy on our streets that we really do want.

“This is not a one off. We know as a city we have to be continually putting activity on the streets. We want people coming to Ballarat.”

White Night Creative Director David Atkins said there had been many nerves last year, but the success had given organisers confidence of a bigger and better event this time.

“This year we’ve got artists presenting more challenging pieces and that shows growth,” he said.

“We’ve done a fantastic mapping of the town hall. It’s got a fantastic facade. We’ve also got performances taking to the air, into balconies. We’ve got the stage in Lydiard St. We’ve also expanded the footprint, stretching now into Armstrong St. All up it will give us an extra 30-40 per cent.”

Mr Atkins said the success of last year’s event had lifted Ballarat’s profile around the world.

“We’ve got an international act. We have a street act from Amsterdam that asked if they could come out. We’ve got acts from Melbourne, from Sydney and of course from all over the regions.

“This is a great reflection on Ballarat and its events like this that help lift its profile beyond the region.”