Page 602 - Week 02 - Thursday, 24 March 2022
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dedicated large scale event at Commonwealth Park, supported—in the lead up to and on the day—by community arts workshops.
Entry was free; tickets were not required. The event attracted over 15,000 attendees to enjoy 38 performance groups presented across three stages, and it engaged with 34 multicultural community and commercial stall holders and others. This program was supported by additional funds from the National Multicultural Festival to engage with our multicultural communities and provide revenue raising opportunities for them.
I would particularly light to highlight that the estimated total of 15,000 people attending represents a Canberra Day event attendance on par or higher than experienced over the last six years, which is a testament to the Canberra community and a reflection of Enlighten’s success in general.
MR PETTERSSON: Minister, can you please outline for the Assembly the other government-run events held during the Canberra Day long weekend and how they contributed to our celebrations?
MS CHEYNE: I thank Mr Pettersson for the supplementary. The Canberra Day long weekend featured a number of crowd favourite events for locals and visitors to enjoy. The beloved short film festival, Lights Canberra Action, took place on the night of Friday, 11 March in the Senate Rose Garden and attracted an estimated crowd of over 17,000 event goers, with awards presented to winning film makers across 16 different categories.
The Canberra Balloon Spectacular returned to the Patrick White Lawn location from Saturday 12 March, commencing at 6.15 am daily, and continued through until Sunday 20 March. The event achieved record attendance during its run this year with an estimated total of 47,500 attendees just at the official event site alone, surpassing the previous record of 44,000 achieved in 2020 and many Canberrans were delighted to meet the feature balloon this year, which was Tico the Sloth.
Symphony in the Park featured Australian singer-songwriter Lior and Canberra Symphony Orchestra. It was held on the night of Sunday 13 March and it attracted a very health attendance of 12,500 attendees as well. So when combining the numbers from the Canberra Day event with the Canberra Balloon Spectacular, and Enlighten Illumination attendees on Monday 14 March, I am very pleased to share that this year’s Canberra Day set a new record for total daily attendance with over 39,500 people joining celebrations from the morning through to the evening.
MS ORR: Minister, what were some of the highlights of Enlighten’s broader programming and initial measures of its success?
MS CHEYNE: Enlighten official sits within the Chief Minister’s major events portfolio, but I am very happy to share that the community events within the program experienced a very strong attendance, with estimated attendance back to, or surpassing, pre-pandemic levels.
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