What Will Mildura Look Like at Easter if Fuel Prices Keep Rising?

Photo Credit - DTP Quicksnaps

Easter in Mildura is usually one of those times of year when the town feels alive from the moment Good Friday rolls around. The streets fill up, the river gets busy, accommodation books out, and there’s that unmistakable Easter vibe that locals know well - part holiday, part reunion, part motorsport carnival.

But with fuel prices climbing, it’s fair to ask a question that could hit our region harder than many city areas:

What will Mildura look like at Easter if fuel prices keep rising?

This isn’t just about the cost of filling the family car for a long weekend away. It’s about whether competitors can afford to tow cars, bikes and boats here. It’s about whether race teams can justify the trip. And it’s about whether visitors who normally come to soak up Mildura’s famous Easter atmosphere might instead decide to stay closer to home.

That matters, because Easter isn’t just another weekend on our calendar. Council itself has long promoted our "Powersports"  long weekend as a major period, with events built around the Easter Show and Shine, speedway, drag racing and the Mildura 100 Ski Race. Council has also highlighted how important Easter is for local tourism, reporting $14 million in Easter visitor spending in 2025, up 10 per cent on the year before.

And right now, the pressure at the bowser is real. The ACCC said just days ago it was keeping a close eye on the petrol market amid Middle East conflict, noting average petrol prices across many regional locations was now well above $2 per litre.

For motorsport, that hurts on multiple levels.

A speedway team does not just burn fuel getting from home to Mildura and back. There is the tow vehicle, the race car, generators, support gear, extra trips into town, and often a whole crew travelling with them. The same goes for bike competitors and for drag racers - tow rigs, trailers, race fuel, spare parts, overnight stays, meals and all the little costs that become big costs once you add them up. Boat racing is no different. Anyone towing a ski race boat any distance knows the fuel bill starts stinging before you’ve even crossed the city limits.

And then there are the visitors.

Mildura’s Easter buzz is not created by locals alone. It comes from people travelling here from Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and beyond. Some come specifically for the motorsport. Others come because Easter in Mildura has become an event in itself - river, sunshine, food, family catch-ups, the city heart, and that unique feeling that there is always something happening. If fuel keeps rising, some families may still want to come, but they may shorten the trip, spend less while they’re here, or skip it altogether. 

That is where the real concern sits.

Higher fuel prices don’t just hit competitors. They can ripple through the whole Easter economy - accommodation, cafes, pubs, takeaway shops, fuel stations themselves, supermarkets and every local business that benefits when Mildura is packed for a long weekend. Council’s own material shows these Easter events are not fringe activities; they are part of the visitor economy and part of what puts Mildura on the map over Easter. Council has also continued to back these events financially.

So what happens if the bowser keeps creeping up?

Maybe the diehards still come. Mildura has always drawn people who love the road trip and love the event. But maybe fields are a bit smaller. Maybe a few interstate teams do the maths and pull the pin. Maybe some families who normally come for the whole weekend decide one night is enough, or none at all. Maybe the atmosphere is still there — but not as full, not as loud, not as strong as it could have been.

And that would be a shame, because Mildura at Easter is one of the great regional vibes in Victoria.

This is exactly why rising fuel prices matter more in a regional city like ours. We are destination-driven. Distance is part of the deal. The further people have to travel, the more every extra cent per litre counts. It hits the bloke towing the sprintcar, the bike rider loading up for the weekend, the ski race team heading for the Murray, and the family from Adelaide or Melbourne thinking about whether they can justify a trip to Mildura.

There seems to be not response from MRCC as yet, but maybe that conversation is still coming. It probably should.

Because if fuel keeps rising, the question is not just what it will cost to get here.

The question is what Mildura looks like if fewer people come.

Will Easter still have that packed-out, revved-up, river-city energy we are known for? Or will it feel just a little thinner around the edges — fewer trailers, fewer boats, fewer caravans, fewer visitors, and a quieter town at the very time it should be buzzing?

We all hope it doesn’t come to that.

But it’s a question worth asking now, before the Easter crowds are meant to arrive.

What do you think?

Will rising fuel prices change Mildura’s Easter crowd, or will people still come anyway for the atmosphere, the motorsport and the river?