The laser show will be cut from the 2019 DREAM Festival due to a lack of sponsorship.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The first DREAM Festival was held in 2011. Each year it continues to grow in the number of events and the number of attendances.
Festival committee chair Anne Field said there were more than 22,000 attendances at the 2018 DREAM Festival, including 5000 from outside the Dubbo local government area. The Music + Markets alone - which includes the lantern parade - was attended by 14,000 people.
ALSO MAKING NEWS:
"The number of attendances have grown consistently each year, surpassing our expectations each time and should the current patterns of expansion continue it's projected that 25,000 attendances could be achieved by 2020 but that depends on a number of factors that are largely outside our control, such as the weather, competing events and whether people have disposable income or not," Ms Field said.
She said it might seem like the event was going well but this year there were a few challenges.
"We've lost a couple of our sponsors, possibly as a result of the drought. We don't believe we're in a position to afford the laser show, which is very disappointing. While we will be actively seeking more sponsorship, we believe we're ultimately $10,000 short and we can't progress with that," Ms Field said.
The committee president said 2019 would be the first year the Festival would go backwards "in terms of events that will be presented".
However, it's not all bad news. This years festival will be held from October 17 to 28 and Ms Field said multiple partnerships had already been developed, which would result in new events.
The 2019 event has also received $20,000 from Destination NSW for the third year in a row. Dubbo Regional Council also gives money to the DREAM Festival every year.
Ms Field said the money for the festival was all spent locally. Last year, it returned $621,000 to the local economy.
Dubbo Regional mayor Ben Shields said he wanted to see the DREAM Festival continue for many, many years to come.
"I'll be the first one to admit I was highly sceptical to give a significant proportion of ratepayer funds to an organisation for a festival but they've proved me wrong without a doubt. The lantern parade has grown into far beyond what I could have ever imagined when it first came to council all those years ago," he said.
"I've been proved wrong by it and I suspect a lot of other people in the community have been proven wrong by it too."
Cr Shields said the money council gave had a great return for the local economy.