While Victoria Park is being prepared for Ballarat's biggest ever music festivals, council has announced the vast majority of the park will be closed to the public.
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In a release sent to The Courier, the City of Ballarat said "Victoria Park will be closed from Monday 25 November until mid next week, ideally Thursday 5 December. The speed of re-opening Victoria Park will be weather dependent and may vary accordingly. The Inclusive Play Space and Oak Avenue will remain open except for all day Saturday 30 November."
The release added no roads will be closed for the event, however parking bays will be reserved for Spilt Milk bus shuttle services on Mair Street between Lydiard Street and Coffee Palace Lane from 10pm - 2am on Friday night, and again from 9am - 5pm on Saturday.
With the massive number of revellers bound for Ballarat's, V/Line has said they will be providing extra travel options to get people to the event.
While buses will still be replacing trains for the third consecutive week, V/Line regional manager Dallas Martin said additional services will be on standby for those getting too and from the event.
"We'll have plenty of coaches on standby at Southern Cross Station to ensure passengers can get to the event," he said.
"We'll also be putting on additional coaches after the festival so people can leave the car at home and enjoy a day out."
Travelling to the event, express coaches will run directly from Southern Cross Station to Ballarat Station with buses picking up passengers in Mair Street to transport them to Victoria Park.
For the nearly 2000 tourists V/Line expects to be heading home from Ballarat to Melbourne, coaches will be running back to Southern Cross Station from Wendouree Station every five minutes between 10pm and 11.45pm.
"Festivalgoers will need to catch a bus from Victoria Park to Wendouree Station and we'll have express coaches departing for Southern Cross Station every five minutes from 10pm to 11.45pm," Mr Martin continued.
Fringe festival showcasing local talent
With only a handful of days before Ballarat's biggest ever music festival, council is looking to showcase some of the region's brightest talent to thousands of tourists.
The Ballarat Fringe Benefits Festival will kick off this Friday, delivering 12 hours of live music across 35 venues across the city.
Two of the over 120 local artists performing across the event are Brienna and Brodie Kamp, a brother-sister indie-pop duo who perform under the name Lotus Eyes.
The pair said the festival provides a great opportunity to showcase the talent of local performers.
"It's an amazing opportunity for us to try and showcase what we can do to a lot of people... this is what we love to do so to have this platform to show off our music is terrific," Brodie said.
His sister said Ballarat should push more events like the Fringe Festival to help up-and-coming gain exposure and further their careers.
"It's always difficult when you're starting as an artist, especially in a place like Ballarat where there isn't a lot of places to perform live music.
"I know plenty of struggling artists who have incredible music but are struggling to break out because they're based here. It only gets more difficult for them when they head to Melbourne because there is so much music... having more Ballarat opportunities would be amazing."
Ballarat deputy mayor Belinda Coates echoed the artist's sentiments, calling for Ballarat locals to rally around events such as Friday's.
"It's really important for locals to get involved with the festival because we want to have a city where creative arts are sustainable," she said.
"We want our local art to be something Ballarat is renowned for."
Also on display across the festival will be local businesses, such as Kilderkin Distillery and Red Duck Beer, who will be launching a pop-up gin and beer bar.
Cr Coates said the amount of tourists coming through the region will hopefully bring a significant financial boost to the local economy.
"It's a terrific opportunity to inject some cash into the local businesses and showcase our local businesses to the visitors coming to town."
See the full list of artists performing and the venues below.
ARTISTS:
Anna Bilbrough
Arian Lane
Ash D Marshall
Bar Choir
Bo'ness
Candi Wade
Cheer Squad DJ's
Cordelia's Potted Operas
Did Someone Here Say Ballarat?
DJ Thomas
Dulcet
Eloise & Arcacia Lund
Federation University Australian Pipe Band
Floc
Flynn Gurry
Fragyle
Fusion
Georgia Ring
Guy Chappell (Yacht Club DJ's)
Hap and Ryda
Jesse Zahra
Jessica Paige
Lotus Eyes
Meraki Minds
Modish Disco
Neil Murray and Sarah Carroll
No Lights No Lycra
Rob Baron and Matt Cartledge
Sanctuary
Shaftwerk
Shell Yeah
Snake Valley
Sweat Dreams DJ's
The Average Band
Tori and Carl
Travalley
Wayne Parker and Paige Duggan
Well Strung
VENUES:
1816 Bakehouse
Alfred Deakin Place
Ballarat Mechanics Institute
Ballarat Trades Hall
Ballarista
Bridge Mall
Cafe at Provincial
Central Square Car Park
Cubby Haus Brewing
Europa Cafe
Freight Bar
Go Vita
Higher Society Cafe
Hop Temple
Irish Murphy's
Kittelty's
Minerva's Books
Mitchell Harris Wines
Munster Arms Hotel
Pipers By The Lake
Rid Lion Hotel
Robin Hood Hotel
Stockland Wendouree
Synod Hall
The Bluestone
The Building
The Eastern
The Forge
The George Hotel
The Hydrant Food Hall
The Lost Ones Basement Bar
The Main Bar
The Mallow
The Sporting Globe
Uptown Ballarat.
