The city's public holiday will be held on Melbourne Cup Day this year, shifting from the Friday of the Ballarat Show.

In an urgent item of business considered by councillors last night, they agreed to move the date to earlier in the month.

It means this year's public holiday will be on November 3 in line with the metropolitan part of the state.

The change was prompted following the cancellation of the Ballarat Show due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The holiday date had been scheduled for November 13.

The overall recommendation of officers had also been to return the public holiday to Melbourne Cup Day for this year.

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This approach was endorsed by Cr Amy Johnson,.who supported changing the date to the Tuesday of the Melbourne horse race.

People were "more likely to leave town" if the holiday was held on a Friday, Cr Johnson said, adding that the timing has a "significant impact on local businesses."

Cr Jim Rinaldi backed her reasoning for the change, noting that it was a "tough time for businesses".

Cr Daniel Moloney also suggested the state government should review the Grand Final Parade holiday, saying it was a public break that hadn't "resonated all that strongly in a place like Ballarat."

The date of the Ballarat Show day has been debated for a number of years.

In 2010 and 2012, Ballarat residents were consulted over their preferred date for a public holiday. The majority of them said they would prefer it to take place on the Friday of the Ballarat Show, with Melbourne Cup Day the next most popular option.

A third option, which suggested holding the holiday on Eureka Day on December 3 only gained support from 12 per cent of the 4,214 public submissions.

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