Sold out success for Festival of Magic as Ballarat welcomes thousands to the city

Kryal Castle's Festival of Magic was among the key events, selling out of tickets on Sunday.

The iconic Ballarat attraction was packed with families enjoying the magical offerings.

Lead knight and experiences director Phillip Leitch called the event a "resounding success".

"We find people really enjoy coming in costume, they tap into their inner wizard or sorcerer," he said.

"We've had a lot of people through the gate."

Over 1500 people had gone to the festival on the sold out Sunday, helped by the 40-odd staff on-site.

Mr Leitch, who has been working at the castle for 10 years, said by running different themes people are able to get new experiences from the attraction.

"This week we've had the witches and wizards and two weeks from now we'll be into our Knights of Fire program, which is again something quite different," he said.

Jaylah, 10, came with her family and it was the second time they had come to Kryal's Festival of Magic.

"My favourite was the knights fighting on horses, it was really cool," she said.

Not only does the event offer a fun experience, it allows local businesses to share their wares, like Hayley Beacham who was selling her handcrafted witches hats.

"It's a perfect opportunity," she said.

"It's an absolutely amazing festival and it's one of my favourite times at Kryal Castle. There are so many lovely people, everyone's smiling and really getting into the spirit."

The city also welcomed thousands of Victorian and South Australian visitors for the annual Junior Basketball Tournament.

Ballarat's soccer pitches also came alive for the Victorian Country Junior Soccer Championships, also seeing visitors flock to the city.

The three-day basketball and soccer events will conclude on Monday.

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