Bendigo Easter Festival
The Bendigo Easter Festival, formerly known as the Bendigo Easter Fair, is an annual event held in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia since 1871, except 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19. The festival includes the Easter procession which sees [Dai Gum Loong], the newest and longest imperial dragon in the world, dance through the streets.
First fair
The Bendigo Easter Fair began in 1871.
A meeting was held on New Year’s night 1871(Jan 1st) at the Shamrock Hotel where discussion was held around the idea of a fundraiser for the Bendigo Hospital and Benevolent Asylum. Those attending were made up of representatives from the committees of The Bendigo Hospital, The Benevolent Asylum and the various Friendly societies such as “The St. Andrews Society”, “The Irish Australian Society”, “M.U.I.O.O.F.”, “Rechabites ”, etc. At the time ‘Bendigo’ was known as the Borough of Sandhurst (Yet to become the City of Sandhurst which occurred on July 21st 1871, and did not return to City of Bendigo until 1891). At this meeting Mr. William Heffernan, Licensee of the Shamrock Hotel, suggested a fair based loosely on the Donnybrook Fair of Dublin which ran from 1204 until about 1868. He also offered the use of a room at the Shamrock Hotel for Meetings and £10 to kick off the fund raising effort. It is important to note that in 1869 and 1870 William Heffernan and his business partner Mr. Hadley had established and run, under their auspices, an Easter Sports Carnival known as the Sandhurst Easter Holiday Sports. In 1869 they were held at the Camp Reserve and in 1870 at the Back Creek Cricket Ground. The Easter Fair was initially known as just The Easter Fair, The Sandhurst Easter Fair, or The Grand Easter Fair, but by 1880 it was generally being referred to as the BENDIGO EASTER FAIR. The Very First Easter Fair was held on Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th April 1871. Originally the Easter Fair was held at the lower end of Pall Mall (The Lower Camp Reserve) around the current site of the Conservatory Gardens (Conservatory building not being built until 1898) and lower Rosalind Park, later moving to the “Old Show Ground” (now the Tom Flood Sports Centre). It was a gated event meaning there was an admission fee paid which contributed to the funds raised for the Charities. The first Easter Fair raised £2560 (£1280 for each institution). Although the amounts raised each year varied dramatically, in its first 21 years it raised £23,000 for the Hospital and Asylum (this would equate to some $3million dollars in current 2020 terms).
The First Easter Parade 1871- 'PROCESSION' The Route of the first procession was as follows; After assembling at Market Square the Parade will move to the Railway Station to receive the Governor, it then proceeded down Mitchell St, along Pall Mall to Mundy St, up Mundy St to Hargreaves St, along to Williamson Street and disperse at the Shamrock Hotel.
The Governor Opens the 1871 Easter Fair from the Shamrock Balconey
The order of the very first procession was as follows; Grand Marshall – Mr. John Stewart Esq., Band, Cavalry, Governor of Victoria – His excellency The Hon Mr. John Henry Thomas Manners-Sutton (3rd Viscount Canterbury GCMG KCB), Suite, Mayor and Councillors of Sandhurst(later City of Bendigo), Mayor and Councillors of Eaglehawk, Mining Board, Presidents and Members of the Shire and Roads Boards, Hospital and Asylum Committees, Band, Fire Brigade, M.U.I.O.O.F., Band, A.O.F., Rechabite Band, Rechabites, G.U.O.O.F., Band of Pipers, St. Andrews Society, Irish Australian Society, Band, Bendigo Deutscher Verein (Bendigo German Society), Other Societies, Citizens.
THE EASTER FAIR SOCIETY In the early years the Easter Fair Committee was elected annually at community meetings called for that purpose, and the results published after each Easter following which the committee stood down and a new committee elected the next year often Chaired by the Mayor. It wasn’t until 1926 when it was decided to establish a permanent body to be known as the Bendigo Easter Fair Society to be made up of 18 Executive members - 3 Representatives of the city of Bendigo (including the Mayor), 2 From the Borough of Eaglehawk, 2 from the Benevolent Asylum, 2 from the Hospital and 9 from the community elected at the AGM; It was also decided that the distribution of funds raised would be 60% to the Hospital and 40% to the Asylum. The Society was later to become a company in 1966 and then in 1984 an Incorporated Association under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981. The Society had ultimate control of the running of the Fair until 2003 when the costs associated with Insurance made it financially unviable to continue. The Society’s committee was to remain as the core of a section 86 Committee of council to direct the content and policy of the event – whilst council staff were to implement the practical element involved. This structure has changed gradually since – currently the Executive of the Society still sits on what is now called the Community Consultative Committee/Reference Group, an advisory body to council in the running of the Fair which essentially has evolved into the Single largest tourism event in the City. The Easter Fair Society still maintains its legitimate role as custodian of the Easter Fair. The Society itself, which remains a volunteer group also continues to operate elements within the Festival including Spinning Wheels and will be a major sponsor of the 150th Easter Fair in conjunction with its own group of Sponsor/Supporters, injecting over $100,000 to the 2020 150th event(postponed due to Covid-19).
In the 1980’s the deliberate decision was taken to end the Charitable nature of the festival in favour of pursuing a Tourism focus. This does not mean to say the charitable element is gone as many community groups use the Easter Festival as a opportunity to raise funds for community purposes, Rotary being a major fundraiser in this sense. As is Vision Australia and smaller organisations.
Events
Easter procession
In 1893 reports in The Weekly Advertiser describe a procession which included a large and colourful Chinese section that delighted crowds. Since then the Chinese community has supported and been an integral part of the festival, complementing their award-winning museum and Chinese Precinct in Bridge Street. In the early 1800s, Chinese gold hunters were persecuted in the district. Bendigo residents today hold their Chinese Community in the highest esteem. At time of writing, the procession features upwards of 100 floats entered by local community groups, schools, emergency services and businesses. The procession traditionally ends with the large Chinese section, which has grown to showcase over one thousand elements and participants. Chinese cultural groups from Bendigo and Melbourne participate in the parade, demonstrating lion and dragon dances. The procession was normally held on Easter Monday each year but since 2011, when it clashed with Anzac Day, it has been held on Easter Sunday. From 1978, Bendigo Easter Processions and events have been attended by a team of radio-equipped marshals, assembled solely for the purpose of improving Festival logistical aspects. Originally formed at the suggestion of Easter Fair Committee member Jim Dobbyn, the Easter Fair Marshals (EFMs) improved entry movements and reduced parade gaps. By the early 1990s, EFMs had evolved into a separate, incorporated entity known as The Dragon City Marshals Inc. (DCMs), with a much wider geographical sphere of activity. By 1994 DCMs were assisting many other festivals and events around Victoria, including Melbourne's famous "Moomba" Festival.[1]
DRAGONS Although the Chinese community have been involved in the annual Parade from almost the very beginning of the event, it was not until 1892 that the large Processional Dragons became an integral part of the annual Easter Fair Parade - The three principle Golden Dragons are Loong (1892 -1970), Sun Loong(1970 -2019) and the New Dragon Dai Gum Loong (2019 - ?????) all are housed at the golden Dragon Museum in Bendigo.
Torchlight procession
The torchlight procession is a night-time parade which began before 1900. It features local emergency services, with local volunteer and professional fire brigade members marching with flaming brass torches. In recent times the parade has ended at Lake Weeroona where entertainment, activities and fireworks have been held. The torchlight procession is held on Easter Saturday each year.
"Popular Girl"
A fund raising event called the "Popular Girl" was held from 1930-1996 in which well-known local young ladies raised money for charity. The woman who raised the largest amount of money was crowned as Miss Popular Girl. The competition is no longer held. The 2010 parade contained a section in which a number of past Popular Girls paraded once again. The Popular girl contest was preceded by the 'Queens' competition from about 1916 to 1929 the winner received the most votes which translated to funds raised for their respective charities, They Included Queen of ANZAC, Queen of Victory, Queen of Eaglehawk Queen of Red Cross etc.
Carnival
Originally held in several locations, including Rosalind Park, Bendigo Showgrounds and, more recently, the Bendigo Central Business District, the carnival features a large number of "sideshow alley" attractions and children's rides.
Chinese Spring Festival
The Chinese Spring Festival has been held every Easter Sunday in the Yi Yuan Gardens since 1996. The festival includes many cultural performers who demonstrate martial arts, lion dancing, storytelling and traditional Chinese dancing which includes; the fan dance (Chinese), ribbon dance and drum dance.
Awakening of the Dragon
This ceremony is unique to Bendigo. A lot of noise is required to awaken Sun Loong who will slowly rouse himself from his year-long slumber to walk in the Gala Parade. In order to do this the famous Southern Lions perform accompanied by the clash of cymbals and the beating of drums. This culminates in the explosion of tens of thousands of firecrackers. Also during this ceremony the Bendigo Chinese Association Lion Team perform the donation dance. This is another unique ceremony to Bendigo's Chinese community. The donation dance began as a way for the Bendigo Chinese community to raise money for the local hospitals and benevolent societies.
New name
In order to be recognized as a major event, the Bendigo Easter Fair was renamed as the Bendigo Easter Festival in 2003. It had first incorporated Festival in its name in 1989 but was largely known as Festival from 2003 when the City of Greater Bendigo assumed Operational control. In 2020 it was to return to Bendigo Easter Fair as a tribute to int's 150th year however the 2020 event suffered the fait of many events in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic. The Easter Fair/Festival is still a very popular event attracting over 100,000 people across the three-day event.