The outdoor museum will welcome back pre-purchased ticket-holders on June 27. In the short-term it will be limiting the visitor numbers to 1000 patrons a day with a range of new hygiene and safety measures to be put in place to make the attraction safe for both visitors and staff.

A number of major events will not initially return however, with the Winter Wonderlights to be cancelled for 2020, while the Gold Museum, Aura and Narmbool attractions will also remain closed in the short-term.

FROM MARCH 20: Sovereign Hill to close indefinitely

For chief executive Sara Quon, the chance to welcome back locals and visitors staying overnight in the city will be a key focus in the return.

"There's lots of work going on around reconnecting with the Ballarat community and that will be a priority for us," Ms Quon said.

"We're about inspiring that pride and our regional heritage within Ballarat. Our new strategic plan has the Ballarat community absolutely at its heart.

"We're constantly in all of our programming thinking about the local Ballarat visitor and that is a commitment we make to be ongoing as a real focus in our thinking and a key part of our decision-making."

The return will initially be limited to Friday, Saturday and Sunday - with those days expected to remain in place until at least September.

Ms Quon said permanent staff would be the first to return with other casual workers and volunteers to gradually return afterwards.

IN OTHER NEWS

She said she was thrilled that casual staff, which makes up more than half of the attraction's workforce, had been offered jobs at a number of large retailers around Ballarat including Woolworths and UFS among others.

Victorian Tourism Industry Council chief executive Felicia Mariani said it was great to see the return of such a substantial attraction.

"It was a very dark day for our industry on March 20 when Sovereign Hill announced it would be closing its doors indefinitely as a consequence of impacts from the coronavirus crisis," she said.

"Sovereign Hill is a landmark attraction in Victoria welcoming over 750,000 visitors in the past year. Its closure in March was a major indication of the devastation that COVID-19 would inflict on our industry across the state and across the country. "

Ballarat mayor Ben Taylor said the tourism industry was the heart of Ballarat's visitor economy and news of a partial re-opening of Ballarat's largest attraction was a positive sign for the city and the staff of Sovereign Hill.

"Re-setting the go button is not easy for any business still facing restrictions," he said.

"It is an extraordinary effort to re-open such a large outdoor museum, and I can only imagine the level of planning required by the Sovereign Hill Management and Board to make this happen."

Ms Quon said further announcements including price structures and details of programs over the coming months will be made within the next week. Pre-purchased tickets will be available from the Sovereign Hill website from June 17.

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