Over 600 people rugged up for Flagstaff Hill’s Fire Night on August 17.
The evening featured a twilight cannon firing, live music from Nick Alexander, food trucks and fires along the wharf that were perfect for toasting marshmallows.
The Flagstaff Hill tea rooms also brewed up their own special recipe of homemade hot chocolate which proved very popular.
Flagstaff Hill Acting Manager Ash Ansell said that he was pleased to see such a great response from locals and visitors, with numbers increasing from the inaugural event held last year.
“Speaking to the guests, some had travelled from as far as Hamilton specifically for the event,” he said.
“There were also people from visiting Warrnambool from further afield, places like Melbourne, South Australia and Tasmania, who were excited to be able to attend such a fun event which they weren’t planning for.
“And locals I spoke with felt that it was great to have a unique, cost-friendly event, during the winter in Warrnambool.
“The weather was absolutely perfect, which was a big help, but people don’t necessarily want to stay inside all winter. If there are events on and it’s not bucketing rain, people are happy to head out and join in the fun.
“Our wider tourism campaign for Warrnambool is “embrace the winter” and events like Fire Night fit in perfectly.”
Flagstaff Hill also hosted International Lighthouse Weekend, with the Warrnambool Men’s Shed Amateur Radio Group making contact with enthusiasts around the world.
They made contact with around 170 people across the weekend including 14 groups operating from lighthouses and the rest were people who were interested in chatting to groups operating from lighthouses as part of the weekend celebrations.
Lighthouse connections were made throughout Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania and New Zealand while radio enthusiasts tuned in and made contact from all over the world including Finland, Russia, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Africa and Russia just to name a few.
Janice Haynes, known as The Lady of History, also entertained patrons over the weekend with interactive performances as her alter egos Aaarrabella the Piratess and Irish convict as well as Rose Ann Hyland, a survivor of the Neva Shipwreck.