Ballarat Winter Festival delights attendees and boosts business

Crowds of people were out in force and Ballarat businesses received a valuable boost during another successful staging of the Ballarat Winter Festival.

In an action-packed three weeks throughout the city that wrapped up at the weekend, tens of thousands of people took part in some of the many events on offer as part of the festival.

The pop-up ice rink in Armstrong Street proved extremely popular in its 10th year celebration, with more than 15,000 people strapping on their skates.

Early estimations are that about 930 skaters took advantage of the 15 per cent discount for people who spent $25 or more at a local hospitality or tourism business.  

Elsewhere, the Ballarat Mining Exchange came to life with the Obsidian Dark Beer Festival, Candelight Concerts and the Design Exchange.

The beer festival proved a hit with more than 400 attendees in its inaugural event, the Candlelight Concerts receiving glowing feedback with almost 600 attendees, while the Design Exchange had 1,800 people through the doors.

Sovereign Hill also celebrated its 10th anniversary of Winter Wonderlights in grand style.

“Generating on average over $20 million into the Ballarat economy each year, Winter Wonderlights continued to shine and delight in its tenth year,” Sovereign Hill Deputy CEO, Katrina Nitschke said.

“Winter Wonderlights dazzled for three weeks, with Saturday 13 July becoming the museum’s biggest visitation day ever recorded, with over 10,000 visitors in one day.”

City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson said the event was a highlight on the Ballarat calendar and continued to provide a massive boost during the winter school holidays.

“We are thrilled to see the Ballarat Winter Festival achieve such outstanding results in bringing money to the city, but also providing locals and visitors with some fantastic entertainment,” he said.

“At a time when a lot of people are feeling cost of living pressures, we feel the Winter Festival truly delivered by providing affordable, family-friendly activities and further cemented Ballarat’s reputation as an events destination.”

The City of Ballarat will analyse the full economic impact of the Ballarat Winter Festival in the coming weeks and is currently preparing its 2023/24 annual events report card as part of the Ballarat Events Strategy 2018–2028.

The City of Ballarat events calendar continues to provide a variety of activities for the whole community to enjoy across the entire year. Upcoming highlights include the Red Series at the Mining Exchange this weekend, shows at Civic Hall in August and the return of the Western Bulldogs for round 24 of the AFL season.