Lights, colour, action! Dubbo's first DREAM lanterns parade in four years was a resounding success.
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On Saturday, September 9, crowds flocked to Dubbo's Victoria Park for the flagship event of the month-long DREAM Festival, the lantern parade.
As darkness fell, hundreds of local school children and other members of the community carrying vibrant lanterns made their way up Talbragar Street towards the park led by a dancer donning a stunning illuminated peacock tail.
"I did speak to a couple of people and they said to me what they loved about it was it just seemed like an uplifting experience," Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson said.
"If it makes people feel good about being here and about living here that sounds like it's a pretty good outcome."
This is the first time in four years the event has been held, with the 2020 and 2021 parades being scrapped due to COVID-19 restrictions and the 2022 event being cancelled at the last minute due to rain.
Cr Dickerson said it was "fantastic" to see the event come back with a bang after the disruptions.
"It was fantastic going along in the lantern parade. The number of people who were in the parade was good, but the number of people on the side of the road was fantastic as well," he said.
It wasn't just locals who enjoyed the lantern parade either.
"One of the challenges is, I think the DREAM Festival is fantastic for Dubbo residents, but you also want to bring people from far and wide," he said.
"I actually heard a few stories last night when I was walking around talking to people, especially stall holders, they were talking about various people that were coming from all over the state."
The parade followed an afternoon of free entertainment, roving performances, children's activities and market stalls. Entertainment on the main stage was headlined by Orange musician Robbie Mortimer and Andy Nelson from Bathurst.
Visitors to the park after dark were also treated to a multi-sensory Wiradjuri DREAMscape experience, which featured 800 stories representing eight clan groups curated by Dubbo's Shane Riley.
"That was actually pretty cool, when you walked down that dream landscape, having the sound as well as the lights I thought was particularly good," Cr Dickerson said.
Cr Dickerson said one of the highlights of the day for him was seeing so much support for the local businesses which set up stalls and got involved with the event.
"I like to go and talk to the stallholder to see how things are going and all of them were saying they had a fantastic afternoon and evening, lots of sales and that just meant lots of people around," he said.
"I think that's good for that economic perspective as well."
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