The Easter long weekend brought with it a boost of confidence for event organisers and attendees, with a number of large-scale public events taking place across New South Wales.
Despite the devastating cancellation of Bluesfest last week, many community events were lucky to go ahead in other parts of the state.
The Sydney Royal Easter Show kicked off on Thursday 1 April and attracted sold-out crowds to Sydney Showground across the long weekend.
Sydney Showground head of sales Andrew Roberts said the opening weekend was a significant achievement for both the venue and the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW.
“It has been nothing short of amazing watch our team pull together what might well be the largest event in Australia this year,” he said in LinkedIn post.
“We have overcome the adversity of less time to plan, reduced staff and less budget along with the added uncertainty of COVID.”
UPDATE – SUN 4 APRIL & MON 5 APRIL TICKETS & SOPA PARKING HAVE SOLD OUT!
It’s Day 3 at the Sydney Royal Easter Show and…
Posted by Sydney Royal Easter Show on Friday, April 2, 2021
Crowds also flocked to Jindabyne over the long weekend for annual outdoor sculpture event Jindabyne Lake Light Sculpture Festival.
Organisers told Spice News the event saw approximately 26,500 visitations across the weekend.
“Jindabyne is a very sport-dominated town…but we don’t have many cultural events such as this,” said Lake Light Sculpture artistic director Ben Eyles.
“You can see the crowds behind me, it makes it a really awesome event, it just keeps getting bigger and better.”
Further south, the Tilba Festival also took place on Easter Saturday, celebrating local heritage, food and music on the NSW South Coast.
Both the Tilba Festival and the Lake Like Sculpture Festival were supported by Federal Government grants to encourage visitation to regional destinations.
While the issues of snap lockdowns and travel restrictions still plague the events industry, the return of community events over Easter shows confidence levels are high among attendees.
With Sydney Royal Easter Show continuing this week, Roberts said the strong ticket sales so far demonstrate a high demand for live events.
“This is an incredibly positive step for the events industry,” he said via LinkedIn.
“It’s been a humbling experience watching everyone chip in and do their bit to get this iconic event up and running.”
