A new beer event this month aims to help repair the summer tourist trade after a number of factors have hit regional tourism operators and events.
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Quarterbar, a free two-day pop-up craft beer event, is set to take place on the same weekend as Ballarat Beer Festival in the hope it will keep beer lovers in the region for the full three days.
The Rainbow Serpent Festival, a five-day event that boosts the economy of Lexton, Beaufort and other towns, was postponed until Easter after fire destroyed the site before Christmas.
Already in 2020 the coronavirus outbreak has had a big impact on tourism, with Sovereign Hill chief Sara Quon saying cancellations of up to 70 per cent were projected for Chinese visitors over coming months.
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With White Night finishing up in the city for now after three years and the Lost Trades Fair taking place in Bendigo, local hotels, restaurants and other operators could feel the pinch brought on by a summer of bushfires that has caused many people to stay at home.
Ballarat council is also looking to boost potential calendar gaps with a new "major spring time festival" currently under tender and hoping to bring up to 40,000 people to the region.
The push comes on the back of record figures across Ballarat last year, which saw the city break the million mark for overnight visitors in the 12-months to the end of September 2019.
The new beer event, which is aiming to run a minimum of four times a year, will showcase homegrown breweries Dollar Bill Brewing, Red Duck and Cubby Haus along with almost 20 others.
Ballarat Regional Tourism chairman Iain Gunn said he was supportive of homegrown ventures that aimed to bring people to the region.
"Ballarat Regional Tourism are supportive of local homegrown events and understand how important they are to the tourism offering for our region," he said.
"It's important to look at how all events fit within the events strategy for (council's former arm's length organisation) Visit Ballarat and the City of Ballarat.
"Although it is clear homegrown events play a major role in the long-term success for tourism."
We wanted to provide something that would be the best for visitors and what would elevate Ballarat.
- Fiona Nolle
Dollar Bill Brewing husband and wife duo Ed and Fiona Nolle, who created Quarterbar, told The Courier the event was also aiming to showcase independent craft beer producers.
"We're just hoping to showcase independent craft beer in an easy access kind-of-setting," Mr Nolle said. "We want people to try what's on offer in small pours, compare the different drinks and ask us questions so we can share our knowledge."
Mrs Nolle said: "it was something that we came up with and pitched to the Ballarat Beer Festival management about... They do a cracking job but they had to stick to what they thought would make their event the best.
"We wanted to provide something that would be the best for visitors and what would elevate Ballarat. We think Quarterbar is a big win for brewers and visitors coming to town for the beer festival because we're giving them a secondary event to complement the Ballarat Beer Festival."
Mrs Nolle credited the overwhelming support to making the event get to this stage.
"All the brewers who have gotten on board are people who have helped us along the way. We wanted to pay them back by asking them to supply us with their best kegs so that we could showcase them. I approached 18 breweries to be involved and every single one said 'yes'."
Quarterbar will operate at Alfred Deakin Place with a 25-tap shipping container bar, featuring menus with in-depth details and tasting notes about each beer.
The current list of brewers being represented at the two-day event includes some more well-known independent brewers such as Two Birds Brewing and Stomping Ground Brewing Company, as well as the lone international brewer Craftwork Brewery from New Zealand.
3 Ravens Brewery, which recently took out the HopQuest 2020 competition at Beer Deluxe FedSquare alongside Dollar Bill Brewing.
The Nolles are hoping this will encourage people to try a wide variety of beers they may never have had before.
"The event is very much based around knowledge. Ed is a brewer and has a heap of knowledge he likes to share with people," Mrs Nolle said.
"We've put together extensive tasting notes for the beers we'll be presenting on the day and it's a chance to get one on one with brewers to our questions."
The Nolles are expecting about 300 people to come to the event on each of the two days it is running and are hoping it can lead to more events in the future.
"We want people to come around for an hour or two, enjoy a few beers, maybe have something to eat and go from there," Mr Nolle said.
Another boost to visitor trade comes to the CBD next weekend with the three-day Rock Ballarat Rock and Roll Rockabilly Festival. The revamped event comes after an earlier version of the popular festival was cancelled last year.
The full list of brewers attending February's new beer event are:
Valhalla Brewing, Stomping Ground, Bodriggy, 3 Ravens, Deeds, Newstead, Range, Wildflower, Ocho, Van Dieman, Twometretall, Exit, Sailors Grave, Craftwork NZ, Bruny Island, Future Mountain, Two Birds, Site Fermentation Project, Cubby Haus, Red Duck and Dollar Bill Brewing.
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