Record crowds of almost 7,000 people attended this year’s Lightning Ridge Opal & Gem Festival, with organisers reporting the biggest event in the festival’s history and stallholders describing some of their strongest sales.
Attendance was up from about 4,400 visitors last year as buyers, collectors and tourists descended on Lightning Ridge for the four-day event.
Event coordinator Louise Kelly said the stallholders had described this year’s event as one of the strongest festivals in the event’s history…