Wednesday's announcement of eased restrictions could not have come at a better time for some of Ballarat's most popular tourist attractions, with the spring school holidays on the horizon.
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Under the eased restrictions announced by Premier Daniel Andrews, regional Victorian outdoor entertainment venues will be able to open to 25 per cent of their normal capacity or a maximum of 300 people, whichever is less.
These limits are similar to what was in place previously and will allow venues to reopen in time for one of their most lucrative periods.
While Kryal Castle will not reopen this weekend, it will reopen in time for the school holidays and its 'History Alive' theme.
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Site manager Phillip Leitch said it was great news to be able to reopen in time for the spring break.
"With the late notice, the fact there are still some restrictions and Melbourne being in lockdown, we won't be opening for this weekend, but we're going to take the time to be better prepared for the upcoming school holiday season," he said.
"The way we're reading it, our grandstand would be able to seat about 300 and if Melbourne is still in lockdown through that period, that may even be enough for people that are able to get here to be able to get a ticket."
Mr Leitch said Kryal Castle wanted to be a reliable venue and would open for the holidays regardless of any financial burden.
"We do know that there are a lot of people out there that look forward to going to Kryal Castle during the school holidays and there are times where we will even open and suffer a loss just so that we keep our customers happy and they do get to come and visit," he said.
"In the long run, we think the benefits of being open and people can rely on us being there whenever feasible is worth something as well."
Ballarat Wildlife Park operations manager Jared Mulholland said every lockdown had been harder and harder so this school holidays was especially important.
"It's very important, school holidays are obviously one of the busiest times for us throughout the years, so especially if we get nice weather, we generally have really good numbers through school holidays," he said.
"We were definitely hopeful that it was going to be announced before the next school holidays so we're rapt it's going ahead now."
While the park is restricted to 300 visitors at a time, it was hopeful to be able to get as many people through the gate as possible.
"We really take note of how many come in and out and we monitor the ins and outs of the park and try to get the crowds through as safely and as efficiently as we can and, so far, we've found our practices have worked really well," Mr Mulholland said.
"It's obviously not ideal, we would like to be right back up to full capacity, but we understand that's not possible just yet with the restrictions so we just work towards the government directions and make it as safe for everybody as we can."
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