NUNDLE'S traditional Chinese Easter celebration has drawn one of its biggest ever crowds despite being forced to implement a gold coin entry fee for the first time.
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The Go For Gold committee was unable to secure a major sponsor for this year's event which meant the cultural event came with a cover charge.
Despite this, Nundle shopkeepers and businesses still said the town was abuzz and felt the crowds were bigger than previous years.
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Sacs on Jenkins owner Teresa Eather said the Chinese festival obviously lines the community's pockets and it's also a boost to morale in the town which has been severely hit by the drought.
She said Nundle's big events generally kept the town's businesses going through the quieter times in the year.
"It keeps us on map," she said.
"It promotes the town and then we get a lot of off-spin from that online as well.
"People are spending and then I always get a lot of online sales afterwards as well."
With a couple of very warm days, Easter falling in the school holidays and seemingly a lot of people sticking in Tamworth for the long weekend, it set the scene for a very successful edition of the festival.
"Generally, it gets about 14,000 to 16,000 people and we feel it could be bigger," Ms Eather said.
"The atmosphere has been buzzing."
The traditional lion dance was a crowd favourite with most attendees making a point to watch the impressive, acrobatic performance.
The dumpling stalls held a steady stream of hungry visitors and were unable to keep up with demand at times.
Meanwhile, artist Nicole Li helped people brush-up on the ancient practice of Chinese calligraphy.
It's an intensive and artistic form of writing which requires a particular brush, ink and paper and one which has evolved over the Chinese dynasties.
While it takes a lot of practice and research to master the art, Ms Li said it was a soothing pursuit.
"Sometimes when you feel not happy or frustrated, when I start to write it is all gone," she said.
"I love to share some Chinese culture with people."
She said a lot of visitors were willing to come and learn about different cultures on the day.