Having been brought to its knees amid the bushfire crisis, Lakes Entrance bounced back to life over the Australia Day long weekend.

Tourists and locals joined in festivities on the foreshore both Saturday and Sunday to celebrate Chinese New Year and Australia Day.

Market stalls, food trucks, live entertainment, the ever-popular duck race and more, organised by Lakes Entrance Events, brought joy to locals and tourists alike, according to group president, Corey Wharfe.

“I guess it had two aspects. The first aspect was a little bit of relief for people in Lakes with something fun to do for the weekend and in terms of the people coming to town, they were so supportive, they went to restaurants and cafes, and shopped locally,” Corey said.

“The ‘Empty Esky’ initiative, people did that, they came to town and bought up big, filled their cars up with petrol, the supermarkets were busy, the local shops were busy.

“It was just a really good atmosphere from everyone, a really positive atmosphere on the foreshore for both days.

“I couldn’t put an exact number on it, but a lot, thousands,” Corey said when asked how many people the festivities attracted.

“We had between 600 and 700 entries in the duck race, some people buying eight tickets or five tickets, but it was extremely popular, it was sold out.”

The annual New Year’s Eve fireworks and foreshore festival was cancelled due to the bushfires, however Lakes Entrance Events saw an opportunity with conditions having settled to put on a Australia Day extravaganza as a replacement.

The fireworks have been widely hailed as some of the best ever seen on the Lakes Entrance foreshore.

“There were a lot of families on Australia Day, people with young children and a real mix of people over the whole weekend. A lot of families came to enjoy the fireworks,” Corey said.

“There were a lot of tourists in the area, I don’t know exactly where everyone came from, but I know there were people from

Geelong and Melbourne, but also people that made day trips from Traralgon and further afield, which is great.

“The fireworks were extremely popular, a lot of positive feedback and thank you’s to Lakes Entrance Events team, people raving about the atmosphere. It’s been really positive for the town.”

IMAGE: Locals and visitors jostled for the best position on the footbridge to watch the popular duck race on Australia Day. The race was sold out with more than 600 entries. Lakes Entrance Events president, Corey Wharfe, said the foreshore activities and entertainment over the weekend were extremely popular. K87-99