Ararat will mark a key moment in its history with the Freedom of Entry to the City parade this weekend.
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The event will see the return of the HMAS Ararat II crew to the city to be awarded the honour on June 16.
About 25 crew members will travel from Darwin to march from Edith Cavell Reserve down Barkly Street to the cenotaph where Ararat Rural City Council mayor Gwenda Allgood and a high-ranking police officer will grant entry to the armed crew.
The procession is set to start at 1.30pm and will finish at the RSL about 2pm.
Barkly Street from Vincent St to Queen St, and in Queen Street from Barkly St to High St will be closed to traffic for approximately one and a half hours on the day.
The rest of Barkly Street will remain open with a rolling road closure from View Point to Vincent Street, as the Northern Grampians Highway Patrol escort the front and back of the procession.
HMAS Ararat crew members assembled at Alexandra Oval on Friday to rehearse for the ceremony.
Cr Allgood said the event would be a significant milestone for Ararat and the ship’s crew and should bring many visitors to the region.
“It will be a great event. HMAS Ararat has close ties to the city. In years gone past some of our councillors have been up to Darwin and Melbourne for celebrations with the crew,” she said.
“It’s really great to have this sort of event in Ararat and I’d encourage as many people to come along as possible because I think it would be quite a spectacle.
“This is something that is not going to be done in every town.”
The event has taken more than two years of planning by council and Ararat RSL.