Bendigo Easter Festival
The Bendigo Easter Festival is the longest continuously running festival in Australia, having been established in 1870.
During the goldrush of the 1850s, thousands of diggers arrived in Bendigo from all corners of the world. Chinese miners made up a significant portion of arrivals, and at one stage, 20% of Bendigo's population was of Chinese origin.
The legacy of this strong Chinese community lives on today with the Bendigo Easter Festival and the Golden Dragon Museum, home to a large collection of local and international Chinese relics.
The annual Bendigo Easter Festival was originally established by the Chinese community to raise funds for local health services, which it continues to do today. The festival is now a colourful, cultural, extensive array of family orientated events, attracting thousands of visitors to the Bendigo region every Easter weekend.
Traditionally Sun Loong, the world's longest Imperial dragon, is a major feature of the festival (pictured). A ceremony is performed to awaken Sun Loong involving 100,000 crackers, so he can partake in the Gala parade, a crowd favourite.
