RELAXED picnic vibes with good music in Ballarat Botanical Gardens launched one of the biggest event weeks for a city in regional Australia this summer.
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The first Summer Sundays free concert had families, couples and groups of friends sprawled across the lawns enjoying the chance to be outside and safely socialise.
AusCycling Road National Championships gear up for action from Wednesday and the city will also play host to Women's National Basketball League matches with another free Summer Sundays concert - this time with fireworks - to finish the week with a bang.
Ballarat mum Imogen Nooney said it was great to spend time in the gardens, listening to music, before heading home for dinner.
"We just love this, We can come an enjoy a bit of gin and tonic and brought some fruit for the kids," Ms Nooney said. "Being outdoor is the key right now."
Wayne Brooks and Cynthia Davidson both enjoyed a chance to chill with a sparkling drink at the wine bar.
Mr Brooks said it was great to have a proper chance to get out and experience the sunshine, music and local culture.
Ms Davidson sad the weather was perfect and enhanced a really COVID-safe atmosphere.
City of Ballarat mayor Daniel Moloney said it was understandable people were nervous as COVID-19 cases continued to skyrocket and, while we could not let our guards down, with precautions we could start to enjoy community events and a relative normal once more.
"With everything we've got together at once, we're the envy of regional Australia," Cr Moloney said. "...There's still uncertainty and we're still cautious, but we;re still determined to get on with these events too. We've shown we're very good at hosting events in a COVID-safe way."
Cr Moloney leads the Regional Capitals Australia alliance and said not even large cities such as Cairns or Geelong had been able to secure a summer events program quite like Ballarat.
And there was plenty more to come.
Within the next four months, the city's major sports program also includes a National Rugby League hit-out between Melbourne Storm and Newcastle Jets, A-League soccer with Western United, Ballarat's first AFLW match for premiership points and a National Basketball League 3x3 Hustle tournament.
