Bendigo Easter Festival
Commencing in 1871, the Bendigo Easter Festival is one of Australia’s longest-running community events. Over the Easter long weekend, Bendigo’s beautiful Rosalind Park and surrounding streets will b...
Read MoreHave you met Bendigo's newest dragon - Dai Gum Loong?
The beautiful ornate dragon measures 125m long and has more than 7,000 handmade scales. Every year, Dai Gum Loong weaves through the streets of Bendigo at the Gala Parade during the Bendigo Easter Festival. On other days, you can see him at Golden Dragon Museum.
Dai Gum Loong is considered a water dragon, so the scales on the back of his neck and the blue fins around his face represent him morphing from a carp into a dragon. The mirror in the middle of his head is to ward off bad luck.
His cheeks feature the infinity knot symbol representing never-ending good luck, peony flowers to signify virtue, butterflies to symbolise long life and the longevity symbol, as the brief for the dragon maker was to create a dragon to last 100 years.
Dai Gum Loong also features two long horns like Bendigo’s other Golden Dragons Loong and Sun Loong, while the black and gold brocade on his head and tail represents the winding dragon path, as it is believed dragons should not walk in a straight line.
He was made in Hong Kong by celebrated dragon maker, Master Hui. Dai Gum Loong will be a champion for equality and start a new tradition for parading Golden Dragons in Bendigo, so women and men will be able to carry him. Previously only men had been able to carry Golden Dragons.
Subscribe to Bendigo e-newsletter now to receive monthly updates on Bendigo's latest events, stories, packages and online only special offers. If the box below is not working, click here.
The City of Greater Bendigo acknowledges the Dja Dja Wurrung and Taungurung Peoples as the traditional custodians of the lands across Bendigo.
We acknowledge and pay respect to their Elders past present and emerging.