A new festival is coming to Sovereign Hill later this year in an effort to drum up more visitors.
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The Food, Fire and Light festival, to be held over two weeks in October, will acknowledge and celebrate the role fire played on the goldfields.
The project is funded by the state government, but tourism minister Steve Dimopoulos could not say how much was given because of commercial-in-confidence reasons.
Sovereign Hill board president Angela Carey said the event will be a "festival of the senses", including music, performing arts, food and night time fires.
Ms Carey said different mediums will be used to tell the stories "deeply rooted in the region's history".
She said you will be able to sit under the stars "in the same way the miners did all those years ago", listening to storytellers and "enjoying traditional bush foods".
Deputy chief executive Katrina Nitschke said chefs will be brought in, and streets will be lit up with fire.
The event fills a hole in Sovereign Hill's calendar and aims to build on nine years of Winter Wonderlights success.
Ms Nitschke said the winter event attracted 90,000 people each year to Sovereign Hill.
The festival is expected to entice Ballarat residents and Sovereign Hill regulars, as well as targeting people who have not been to the attraction in a while.
"This is an event that's been designed to really appeal for people who perhaps haven't seen Sovereign Hill since they were a school kid," Ms Nitschke said.
"They ...have forgotten how high energy, how exciting and how vibrant Sovereign Hill is as a destination."
What about traders outside of Sovereign Hill?
For years, tourism leaders in the city have wanted to increase overnight stays in Ballarat.
When asked what the government was doing to increase overnight visitation during a cost of living crisis, Mr Dimopoulos said the numbers spoke for themselves.
He said spending in 2023 across the state was higher than in 2019 by about $5 billion.
But on the ground in Ballarat, businesses are reporting quiet streets and fewer bookings.
"People are absolutely careful about how they spend their money, which means that regional Victoria will always come up in front because they know the value that exists in visiting," Mr Dimopoulos said.
He couldn't say how much money Sovereign Hill had received because they needed to protect events from going to other states like NSW or South Australia.
But said we "don't have to compete too much," because the idea of travelling to regional Victoria "is such a good one".
Mr Dimopoulos said because of the two-week length of the festival, he expects people will want to stay overnight to get the most out of the event.
The minister was also in Ballarat to launch the next round of regional events funds.
Event or festival organisers can apply for grants of up to $500,000 to attract or grow more events or up to $50,000 for marketing and support.
The regional event fund is $38 million.