An Expression of Interest process is currently open for the DREAM Festival.

It came after Dubbo Regional Council said it no longer had the capacity to run the event.

The EOI process will determine if the event continues and what it looks like.

We've taken a look back at how the DREAM Festival began and the bumps it's run into throughout the years.

The beginning

In 2010, Dubbo councillor Peter Bartley started pushing for Dubbo to have an iconic festival, similar to the Parkes Elvis Festival or the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

His initial idea was for a dance festival.

However, Mr Bartely wanted the festival to be shaped by the people. He held public meetings to see what ideas the public had for the city's signature event and it was narrowed down to four: festival of dance, Zoofest or a festival of the animals, crossroads cultural festival or a festival of sound.

By August 2010, Dubbo's new iconic festival was revealed to be the Dubbo Regional Entertainment Arts Music Festival.

DREAM Festival committee chairman John Walkom said the event would go for a month held in a number of locations throughout Dubbo.

"The DREAM Festival is something where we can showcase what we have in our great city... we have the ability to do that and do it well," he said at the time.

A few "taster" events were held in 2010, however the festival committee planned for DREAM to kick off in September to October 2011.

"Ultimately if the festival was a big hit in its first year that would be great but realistically we know it will start from humble beginnings," Mr Walkom said in January 2011.

But Mr Walkom said he wouldn't settle for humble pie forever.

"Just as Parkes has the Elvis train which is designated specifically for the Elvis Festival, we hope to have the DREAM train. But that won't happen in 2011."

On Monday, October 3 2011, the front page of the Daily Liberal read: "The community's investment of $50,000 and hundreds of hearts has made Dubbo's newest festival a force to be reckoned with.".

The DREAM Festival Family Fun Day - which included things like sack races, pet competitions and art workshops - was labelled a winner.

The beginning of the lantern parade

The Lights and Lanterns Parade was introduced in 2013.

It featured seven mega fauna and life-sized animal lanterns. The lanterns were up to three metres tall and weighed about 20 kilograms.

Alongside the big lanterns were the smaller ones created by members of the community.

DREAM Festival vice-chair Anne Field said she wanted children to be actively involved with the festival. She said the lantern making "was a great way to get the kids to appreciate the arts with a hands-on activity".

Threats to pull funding

In 2015 the DREAM Festival hit shaky ground.

Having contributed $140,000 to the DREAM Festival throughout the years, Dubbo City Council said it would not contribute funding beyond that year.

Without council support, the organisers said it would be virtually impossible for the event to continue.

"We might be able to tread water for a year or two but the event wouldn't grow and I wonder what the point is seeing as council has completely withdrawn from it," Ms Field said.

"There is a perception out there that Dubbo doesn't have a cultural identity as all the other major centres do and that is what DREAM is all about.

"Without events like this, it is harder to attract people to the city either as a visitor or to live here."

However, after an influx of letters to the council pushing for it to stay, and detailed economic data on the benefit it provided to the city, the funding was continued.

Too big for the volunteers

By 2019 about 1200 people were taking part in the growing lantern parade.

However, Dubbo's iconic event again faced an uncertain future when the volunteer committee said it was too big for them to continue running it.

In June 2020, Dubbo Regional Council's manager of regional events Kim Hague said she had received advice from the committee that they were handing over the reigns to the council.

"This decision was based on the significant size of the event and the volunteer committee no longer had the capacity to continue to deliver the event in its current size and format," she said.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the council was already planning to cancel the 2020 Festival.

It was cancelled again in 2021 due to COVID-19 and then in 2022 the parade was unable to go ahead due to rain.

10-hours of free entertainment

In 2023, the DREAM Festival made a full return with a vengeance.

The DREAM Festival encompassed a month of events, and the council planned 10 hours of free entertainment in Victoria Park including roving performers, stage entertainment, market stalls and food vendors.

Dubbo Regional Council events and partnership team leader Lana Willetts said three months of full-time planning had gone into making the event successful.

"The thing that will bring me the most joy will be seeing families enjoying the evening and the kids having fun, and seeing the smiles on people's faces. That's the reason why we do it," Ms Willetts said in the lead-up to the event.

More than 11,700 people were at Victoria Park for the lantern parade and market day.

What happens now?

Expressions of interest are now open and will close on Sunday, April 21.

The council is looking for a community-based organisation to run the event but will offer $40,000 towards the DREAM Festival as well as in-kind support.

Dubbo councillor Matt Wright has encouraged anyone who's passionate to submit an application.

"This is where the community has an opportunity to show us how passionate they are with regards to the DREAM Festival... That's the kind of thing that will indicate to council whether there's some passion for the DREAM Festival to continue into the future," he said.

An EOI can be submitted via the council website.

Following the EOI process, the DREAM Festival will return to the council for a decision.