After more than a year of doom, gloom and anxiety for Warrnambool businesses and residents, who have been hard hit by strict coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns, the city came alive again.

The heart of Warrnambool was pumping, with thousands flocking to our seaside haven to let their hair down and celebrate as the city put on one of its biggest events.

Last year the May Racing Carnival was run and won behind closed doors - the first time in its near 150-year history.

The overwhelming success of this year's carnival did not happen by chance.

It is a credit to Warrnambool Racing Club chief Tom O'Connor and his staff. It was a mammoth effort to pull the three-day event together after the club only learnt on March 11 about crowd numbers and strict restrictions on where patrons could go.

State government Racing Minister Martin Pakula told The Standard Warrnambool's biggest event injected $15 million into the local economy.

And after the year that was, it was a desperately needed boost for our local businesses who have done it tough.

Cafes, fashion boutiques, hairdressers and beauty salons all reaped the benefits of the carnival.

And at night the city's pubs, restaurants and clubs, whose doors were shuttered for months throughout 2020's strict lockdowns, were heaving.

We must be thankful to our governments, of all sides, who kept us safe and took the sometimes harsh, but necessary measures many months ago to get us to the position we are in today. As COVID-19 continues to rage across the world, Warrnambool showcased just how well Australia has done in its fight against the pandemic.

The USA is averaging 52,000 new COVID cases every day, and in India it's a horrifying 358,000. Australia's average is 15, with most cases being people coming from overseas who are now in hotel quarantine.

And here we celebrated - with crowds of 12,000 gathering each day to show the world just how bloody good the 'Bool is.