Trail Of Lights – Bright Future For Our Community
From the very beginning, ensuring local community access has been a key part of our planning for Trail of Lights since taking on the project from the previous Mildura Regional Development board.
We are excited to share that several community access initiatives, including special pricing for local residents, dedicated community nights, exclusive offers and retail promotions through mildura.com, have been planned for some time are currently being finalised.
These are just the first of many ways we are committed to making this incredible experience available to our community.
We acknowledge that we could have communicated these plans earlier, and we appreciate the passion and interest from the community, however, now, as we move forward, we want to provide a clearer picture of what’s been happening behind the scenes.
With a project of this scale and significance, our initial focus has been on completing the installation in time for the Easter holiday period—an important time for our region’s tourism sector.
The current pricing is a starting point, and we are working to expand access options that balance affordability with the operational costs required to provide a world-class experience.
It’s important to remember that Trail of Lights is the first installation of its kind in Mildura.
Similar high-calibre public art experiences, such as Uluru’s Field of Lights, operate at comparable pricing levels. Despite this, we understand the community’s initial reaction and are actively developing local pricing options to ensure accessibility over the long term.
Community engagement and excitement are crucial to the long-term success of this project, and we are committed to fostering that connection.
Trail of Lights is already generating significant national attention, with more than 1,000 tickets purchased from people across the country, including from the Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania, and New South Wales.
This national interest translates into tangible economic benefits for our local businesses, accommodation providers, and the hospitality sector—benefits that will continue to grow as Trail of Lights becomes a must-visit attraction, which is what the installation was always intended to do – to stimulate the $800million total economic benefit that tourism brings to our region annually.
The Victorian Government funding that made this amazing project possible – the Regional Tourism Investment Fund – exists to ‘support new and innovative tourism infrastructure projects that increase year-round visitation, improve the quality of customer experiences and increase visitors’ length of stay’, and that is what we’re already seeing happen before Trail of Lights even opens to the public.
For locals, an annual membership is already available, offering unlimited access to both Trail of Lights and the Fibre Optic Symphonic Orchestra (FOSO) when it opens. These memberships will also include exclusive offers, such as discounted tickets for visiting friends and family, further strengthening the connection between this experience and our community.
Ultimately, the success of Trail of Lights is a success for our entire region. By bringing visitors to Mildura, we are creating opportunities for local businesses and showcasing our community on a national and international stage. As the project evolves, we will continue to explore ways to increase accessibility and enhance the experience for everyone.
Trail of Lights is just getting started, and we are thrilled to officially open it to the public this Friday afternoon. We invite the community to join us in celebrating this extraordinary event and to stay tuned for upcoming announcements on local access options. Together, we can make this a shining success for Mildura.
For more details, visit mildura.com.
Cr Helen Healy
Mayor
Mildura Rural City Council
https://www.mildura.vic.gov.au/Latest-News/Trail-of-Lights-–-A-Bright-Future-for-our-Community