IT'S full steam ahead for the return of the Brighter Days festival this weekend, with crowd numbers and donations expected to match previous events.
The event, a three day family fundraising extravaganza held annually on the March Labour Day weekend, sees bikes, cars and live music entertaining thousands in Bright.
Vanessa Amorosi, Screamin' Eagles and 2011 X Factor winner Reece Mastin are among the artists set to perform.
Festival vice president Jason Reid said ticket sales were "coming along nicely" with almost 5000 sold.
"We're looking at a similar crowd to the last event in 2020 where we had exactly 5000 as per our permit," he said.
"We have a permit for 7500 this year and it would be great to see that many people there but if we get that 5000 again we'll be happy.
"We started to prepare the site from Sunday and all our volunteers are chomping at the bit; it's great to have so many people being able to help although we can always use more staff.
"Our 2020 event saw $450,000 donated to various entities and we're hoping for the same figure, it's all relative on costs and raffle tickets but we've got half the tickets sold so far which is great.
"There is still time to purchase raffle tickets to win a Ford Mustang Mach–1 fastback, with all proceeds going to the Brighter Days foundation.
"This is such a great event and it not only sees donations for the charities but we know it brings a significant amount of money, into the millions, to the local economy.
"The biggest change this year is that it's now a licensed event so there is no BYO.
"We'll have a well stocked bar area to accommodate those needs.
"We've got some great food stalls and the kids zone is out of the way of the crowd with some new big things for them which is pretty exciting.
"We're really proud of our town and being able to help kids in need."
Bright police Senior Sergeant Doug Incoll wished all attendees a great event.
"We've been working closely with the committee and the Alpine Shire in regards to expectations for the event but it's very well run and we don't expect any major trouble," he said.
"It's the usual rules over the weekend in town with no alcohol in designated areas between 10pm and 7am but the actual event site is licenced.
"There'll be around 50 police here over the three days and we just ask that everyone be patient and kind to each other and have a great event, we fully support it."
The event is being held this Friday, Saturday and Sunday on March 11, 12, 13 at the Oaks Lawn area of Pioneer Park.
The festival event area will be fenced and include Harley Central, the kids zone, the food court and bars, market stalls and the main stage for bands.
For more information and to buy tickets, go to https://www.brighterdays.org.au/.
