Those looking for last minute accommodation ahead of Ballarat's Spilt Milk music festival will pay a hefty price tag, with remaining hotel rooms in Ballarat costing more than $1000 for a single night.
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As of 1pm on Tuesday, October 28, 2023, there are only a handful of accommodation options available in the Ballarat area on Booking.com for the night of the festival.
Ballarat Station Apartments and Kryal Castle Ballarat both have one room available for $455 and $672 respectively, while other accommodation options on the site range between $819 and $1,768 for a single night.
Airbnbs are barely more affordable, with just four available in the Ballarat area priced between $575 and $2981.
Spilt Milk festival, which is taking place on Saturday, December 2, has been sold out since July, and will welcome an influx of visitors to the Ballarat area.
According to the City of Ballarat, more than 32,000 people attended Victoria Park for last year's event, and 40,000 are expected this year.
Big4 Ballarat Windmill Holiday Park manager Molly Smith told The Courier the park was at full capacity ahead of the weekend.
She said they had been receiving constant calls for booking requests, and had even stopped adding people to their cancellation lists as they had grown too long.
"We're pretty much just happy to put anybody anywhere here, so if someone's got a swag or a tent and we've got a bit of grass, we're happy for them to come and pitch a tent," she said.
"We've even got some of the campers on slab sites with tents because we've got nowhere else to put them."
"Everyone's pretty desperate, we get some pretty desperate phone calls that's for sure."
Ms Smith said they would have 117 check-ins, ranging in size from two to six people, over the weekend.
This means she is expecting to host about 500 people in total, with most visitors travelling from Melbourne.
Because of demand, guests will pay a premium to camp during Spilt Milk, as it is the park's busiest weekend of the year.
"We definitely charge more than usual, obviously the more people you've got on your site the more we charge," Ms Smith said.
"The more [bookings] we pick up, the more expensive the prices will be, but we're not charging anything like $800 a night or anything."
"Friday is going to be absolutely hectic, I hope nobody calls us about important things on that Friday because we're just going to be nonstop."
Sovereign Park Motor Inn owner Tim Canny is also awaiting a busy weekend, with most rooms booked out.
He said after a couple of late cancellations, they now had 6 rooms out of a total of 53 available.
"We're pleased with how full we are, it's a great event for Ballarat, and we're looking forward to another big weekend," he said.
Mr Canny said they were really looking forward to welcoming festival goers, who made good guests in the past.
"The people that attended and stayed with us in the past have been fantastic," he said.
"They're really respectful of their rooms and we have never had any issues, and I don't think any other accommodation providers, as far as I know, have had any issues either."
"I don't know what it is about this festival but it seems to attract good people."
Preparation for Saturday's event started this week, with roads in Victoria Park closed from Monday, November 27.
During the festival, Gillies Street southbound will be closed from 10am on December 2, to 1:30am on December 3, with partial closures southbound.
US rapper Post Malone will headline the Ballarat event alongside acts including Dom Dolla, Ocean Alley and Tkay Maidza.
