BOURKE was the place to be on the Easter weekend for the Back to Bourke Reunion Weekend.
The weekend featured a return to picnic racing, a long lunch along the Darling River, street parade, a rugby game and a ball, which combined drew more than 4000 visitors to the outback town across the three days of events.
Local tourism and development manager Phil Johnston said the 110-metre long table dinner on Good Friday along the river bank catered for 350 people, close to 500 attended the ball on Saturday night, and about 3500 enjoyed the races on Easter Sunday.
While the weekend went off socially, it also provided an economic boon for Bourke with about 1000 extra people in town each day, who spent about $750,000 on the Sunday alone, Mr Johnston said.
"It's important to have something that brings the community together and appeals to people from the surrounding communities to come together and enjoy a day out," he said.
Saturday morning started with a parade of floats which passed through town and was five blocks long, and the streets were lined with hundreds of onlookers.
Markets were held at the Bourke Wharf along with other activities in the main street, including wool bale rolling for the first time in more than 20 years, Mr Johnston said.
About 1000 people attended to the old boys rugby game on Saturday, which was won by the Bourke Rams, before hanging up their boots and heading to the Diggers on the Darling ball.
A highlight of the weekend was the return of picnic races, hosted by the Back O' Bourke Race Club.
The six-race program on the Sunday was called the Harry Hart Memorial Picnic Races.
The main event of the day was the Harry Hart Memorial Picnic Cup across 1600 metres, called by Hart's grandson Michael Dumesny, Parkes.
A larger than life character, Mr Hart was a well-known race caller on the western racing circuit.