THE impersonators and the enthusiasts have left the building after the running of another successful Elvis Festival at Parkes, but they have left plenty of their cash behind.
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What has to be the most unlikely of the Central West’s major events – a festival in a hot western town in the middle of summer where participants are encouraged to dress in wigs and jumpsuits – has again drawn thousands and given the host town’s businesses an economic injection that will sustain some of them for months.
Successful festivals and events, some old and some relatively recent, are dotted all over our region – from Ironfest at Lithgow, the ABBA Festival at Trundle, FOOD Week at Orange, the Bathurst Winter Festival and various Dubbo festivals and sports events.
The Red Hot Summer Tour is a growing success in Dubbo as is the homegrown DREAM Festival each October.
Fun events can bring the really big dollars into a community and value added effect as they flow into local wages and purchases means each dollar has nearly twice its nominal value to us all.
So bring more on. The Dubbo Regional Council is actively planning to add to the cash inflow by targeting events (and the conference business) in a big way.
If there was ever any doubt, the past few years have proven residents of Sydney will travel to the Central West if you can put on an event that’s accessible to them and fun.
Residents of the region are very aware of what Sydney, just a morning’s drive over the Blue Mountains, can offer them: beaches, shopping, big sporting events.
But in the past few years, maybe it’s started to properly dawn on us what we – and our region – can offer Sydney.
There are almost five million of them in the metropolitan basin and we know now that some of them are happy to drive out here to ice-skate in Kings Parade, watch jousting in Lithgow or sing Dancing Queen with their arms around each other in Trundle or get very green at the Tullamore Irish Festival.
If we get the festival settings right, they will fill up our motels, pack out our cafes and restaurants and thank us on the way out of town for showing them such a good time.
At the moment, our various Central West festivals largely work independently – though very successfully.
There may come a time, however, when we pool resources, know-how and expertise. And who will be able to resist us then?