FUN4KIDS, the whales and a Winter Weekend festival have led to a bumper school holidays in Port Fairy.
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Langleys Port Fairy Booking Service manager Pauline Davies said visitor numbers were up on last year.
“These school holidays have been very good, and last weekend was excellent,” Ms Davies said.
She said a lot of visitors chose to stay in Port Fairy while attending Fun4Kids because it was more affordable than Warrnambool.
“We’ve had tremendous feedback on Fun4Kids where people have said the changes they’ve made have been really good,” Ms Davies said.
“The weather has been really good too, and we had a lot of last-minute bookings. I think the whales being in Warrnambool has been really good for us too.
"Some people do come for the Winter Weekends but a few don’t know they’re on. We tell them about it and show them the program. It really adds to their stay in Port Fairy because there’s a lot going on, with lots to do and see and I think that’s an absolute bonus.”
Winter Weekends joint co-ordinator Loren Tuck said the feedback for the three festivals to date had been excellent.
“The ghost tours were sold out, the Budj Bim tours were sold out,” Ms Tuck said.
“There was specific interest in Budj Bim and the Port Fairy Film Society’s mini Aussie film festival. The film festival was a really beautiful small-town experience, for the locals as well, because it’s an awesome, inexpensive activity do in the afternoon or night and it’s a great way to get out of the cold.
“We were expecting it to be one of the quietest weekends because there wasn’t as many food and music events but it felt quite busy around town.”
Ms Tuck said the Winter Weekends committee had received praise from visitors for its diverse program and from local business people for its economic boost.
The final festival of the season is on July 21-23.