DIGNITARIES from around Victoria gathered on the banks of the Little Murray River on Wednesday night and waited for night to fall.
The group, consisting of around 80 local, state and federal government representatives, were eager to experience the new, hotly-anticipated Heartbeat of the Murray laser light show.
Laservision, the Sydney-based company who delivered the product, have marketed it as a state-of-the-art mega media spectacular, the first of its kind in Australia.
However up until now little has been revealed by Swan Hill Rural City Council about the $3.85 million development they hope will bring an extra 30,000 tourists to Swan Hill every year.
Local didgeridoo player Nick Hayne set the scene at a freshly constructed Riverside Theatre, with mayor of Gannawarra Shire Lorraine Learmonth whispering that she felt just like a kid.
Then when the sky was finally dark, the show began.
It was clear from the moment the fountains sprung up that there is something special about this very Murray-centric show.
If Laservision were tasked with catapulting the old-fashioned settlement into the 21st century then with the Heartbeat of the Murray, they have achieved that in spades.
Visually the show is superb, with copious special effects including snow, fog and bubble machines working in quick succession to wow the audience, while the spurts of flames take the edge off the night-time chill.
The water fountains arcing in time with the music is magical and the various sections of the show, from 30 million years to the early pioneers colonising the Murray, weave together well.
Particular credit should go to Mr Hayne, who narrated the Aboriginal Dreamtime part of the story (this journalist’s favourite part), complete with the tale of the giant fish Ponde, who is believed to have created the Murray River.
For more on this story, pick up a copy of Friday’s Guardian (December 4).
