A wildfire took the wind out of the sails of what was looking like a huge bounce back season for Barkerville.
Stewart Cawood, the Manger of Public Programming and Media, says 2024 started off great.
“We were looking at a trajectory of probably 50,000 people this year, but in the end we only had 23,000 people come this summer. We were looking like we were going to get back to pre-pandemic levels.”
This year’s total was down from 35,000 visitors last year.
Cawood says the wildfire got to within three kilometres of the historic town and they had to evacuate.
He says they were shut down for twelve days and couldn’t get the momentum back after that.
Cawood says they are definitely taking a loss this year.
“At this point it’s looking like we’re probably down 150 thousand dollars from what we were expecting and that is quite a bit of money for our program. It does mean that we’re going to be looking for any emergency supports that we can.”
He says they are also hoping the public can help them out next year.
“Just come out and see Barkerville, pay admissions, take in programming, pay for theatre tickets, and donate what you can.”
Cawood says they are still planning to go ahead with Victorian Christmas this year on December 14th and 15th.
He says two special events that were postponed this year because of the fire, Indigenous People’s Day and the Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, will be back next year.
Despite a tough season, Cawood says they are still very grateful.
“Thankfully we were very lucky, the fire didn’t come to Barkerville so the town was spared. It could have been a lot worse. I know there was one day when the fire, the way it was moving, it was 22 minutes away.”
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