Council last night voted to keep Bendigo Cup as the local public holiday and will now apply to the Victorian Government for gazettal for this day to be the local public holiday for a period of five years, starting from 2027.
The Bendigo Cup local public holiday usually falls on the Wednesday before Melbourne Cup and only applies to the Greater Bendigo area west of the Campaspe River.
This Council decision does not affect the municipality that is east of the Campaspe River including Heathcote, which will continue to observe Melbourne Cup as its public holiday.
This year’s 2026 Bendigo Cup public holiday, on Wednesday October 28, is not affected by this decision.
Under the Public Holidays Act 1993, local governments outside Melbourne can apply to swap Melbourne Cup Day with a local public holiday.
Mayor Cr Thomas Prince said Councillors looked at all the options carefully to make a delicately balanced decision.
“Thank you to everyone who took part in the survey. The decision to retain the existing local public holiday, the Bendigo Cup, means there are no changes in the community,” Cr Thomas said
“Last night’s decision was a great chance to recognise community contribution to Council decisions, and, in that, we saw the recognition of celebrating a locally based public holiday. Continuing the next five years with a structure that allows our community to continue to enjoy the Bendigo Cup, and the Bendigo Show is a great outcome.
“While there were differing views in the community, Councillors carefully considered all feedback and concluded that the Bendigo Cup public holiday remains an important part of Greater Bendigo’s identity and local traditions.
“The next steps is for the City to apply to the Victorian Government for the Bendigo Cup to be observed as our local public holiday from 2027 for the area of the municipality west of the Campaspe River for five years.”
Council made its decision following a survey on the City’s Let’s Talk Greater Bendigo online engagement platform from July 6 to August 9, 2026, which captured sentiments from community members and businesses.
A total of 2,672 responses were received, with 96 per cent submitted by individuals and four per cent submitted by businesses.
Across all respondents, 38.7 per cent expressed a preference to retain the Bendigo Cup, the current local public holiday arrangement, 36.5 per cent preferred the Melbourne Cup public holiday, and 24.7 per cent preferred the Bendigo Show public holiday.
Across businesses, 54.7% of businesses expressed a preference for the Melbourne Cup public holiday, 31.6% expressed a preference for the Bendigo Cup public holiday and 13.7% expressed a preference for the Bendigo Show public holiday.
Councillors were informed by the feedback and recurring themes from the survey together with economic data and information provided by City officers.
Community presentations regarding the local public holiday were also made to Council by the Bendigo Jockey Club and Bendigo Agricultural Show Society.
The survey responses indicated similar levels of support for the Bendigo Cup and Melbourne Cup public holiday options, with lower support for the Bendigo
Show option. Business respondents showed a stronger preference for the Melbourne Cup public holiday, while individual respondents were more evenly divided between the Bendigo Cup and Melbourne Cup options.
Respondents who expressed a preference for the Melbourne Cup public holiday commonly cited consistency with the rest of Victoria and benefits for work and business operations.
A preference for a long weekend was identified across all three options as a key factor.
Respondents who expressed a preference for the Bendigo Cup public holiday frequently referred to attending the event and supporting a local community tradition.
