Another big weekend of events has seen Ballarat continue to gather momentum after two years of stopping and starting due to the pandemic.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
On Sunday alone, the city was taken over by three of the biggest events on its arts and sporting calendars with Head of the Lake on Lake Wendouree, SummerSalt at North Gardens and a Melbourne Storm preseason match at Mars Stadium.
Thousands attended each event, with the Head of the Lake feeling more normal than it had in two years and more than 5000 people turning up to watch the Melbourne Storm defeat the Newcastle Knights in their final hitout before the NRL premiership season.
Ballarat mayor Daniel Moloney said every weekend felt like another step in the right direction as the city continued to recover from the pandemic.
"At the start of the year, people were putting a toe in the water, trying to get a sense of what the temperature's like, is it safe to get out with COVID?," he said.
"We still need to keep being cautious but every week, the momentum is improving, people are getting a bit more confident getting out, especially to the outdoor events. The focus throughout the warmer months has been trying to get as many outdoor events as we possibly can.
"I think this is really a story about the momentum starting to build again and confidence in a city. We've struggled for a couple years and it's just nice to see happy faces at events. We've missed out for too long and we deserve a good run now."
Cr Moloney, who is also the chair of Regional Capitals Australia, said trying to build momentum and confidence was a goal of every regional centre across the country.
"This is a story that's not just affecting Ballarat, it's a tale told across our nation right now where councils are trying to find ways to get people back into some sort of normal life and to help stimulate tourism, the arts and sport again," he said.
IN OTHER NEWS:
"Outdoors is the way to do it. Outdoors is the safest option at the moment. We're lucky that we're currently in the warmer months and then we'll need to turn our mind to the type of events that will work throughout winter.
"There'll still be a strong outdoor theme to it, but we need people to really get behind the opportunities right now while the weather's good and then hopefully that momentum continues through to the times of the year when it gets a bit colder you just rug up and enjoy it nonetheless."
Cr Moloney said the strength of crowds for AFL, NRL and A-League games justified the city's case for further expanding Mars Stadium.
"It's just so brilliant seeing all these things come together. You don't get to the point of having a conversation around the Commonwealth Games unless you go through a phase of people coming out and supporting AFL, NRL, A-League and just getting that broad support for sport in our city.
"We're becoming a city that is used to seeing some of the nation's best athletes competing on our grounds and that's just a wonderful thing.
"We also hope that that can then lead on to seeing more NRL played in Ballarat for points. I'm hoping that the sea of purple can demonstrate to the Melbourne Storm that we can get behind the NRL. If you get that sort of crowd for a practice match, then we could feel that stadium of 11,500 people for a premiership points game."
Cr Moloney said the next step was working out how to get long-term legacy benefits from Ballarat's momentum as a sports city.
"We look to places like Kardinia Park in Geelong where they started where we are now and over the years, they've built momentum," he said.
"Yes, they have their own club, I get that, but Ballarat's rapidly becoming a city where people expect to see elite competition and it's becoming now the norm. It's not a novelty anymore."
