Orange folk seem to take the news that we missed out on last year’s royal visit by Harry and Meghan with a certain amount of dignity and grace.
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Not so Bathurst.
Bathurst had been told they were in the running to host the royal couple’s visit however at the 11th hour the city was pipped at the post by its country cousin Dubbo.
Now it looks like we’d all better start bracing ourselves for the good people of Bathurst to start spruking the fact that early next year they will play host to a visit by rock royalty.
Apparently the city is already buzzing with the news that Sir Elton John will play a concert at Carrington Park as part of his farewell world tour, one of just six regional venues included on the Australian leg of the tour.
Word is that the show has already been months in the planning and it’s a credit to all involved that the news has not leaked out before now.
It's understood that 15,000 or so tickets to the concert will sell out well in advance ...
Bathurst residents are already proclaiming it as a great credit to the city that it has a venue capable of hosting such a spectacular event.
As could be expected it hasn’t taken long for Orange residents to express their disappointment at Sir Elton John’s selection of Bathurst over Orange.
It’s understood that 15,000 or so tickets to the concert will sell out well in advance, with fans expected to come from right across the Central West and even further afield.
Linda Larsen took to the Central Western Daily’s Facebook page to vent her frustrations at the fact that Orange had missed out again on hosting such a massive event.
Ms Larsen blamed what she said was Orange City Council’s preoccupation with food and wine.
Wayne Cole hinted at the same problem suggesting there were too many coffee shops here and not a venue, or road infrastructure, to support such an event.
Mr Cole is right, the fact is Orange has no venue that’s suitable to host large-scale musical events indoors or outdoors.
We rely on our food and wine industry to attract tourist dollars and these sectors have proved very important for Orange’s growth but we’d better ensure we’re not a one-trick pony.
If we are ever to attract acts the size of Sir Elton John, or even NRL games for that matter, we need an appropriate venue.
Until then, sadly, Orange won’t even be in the running.
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