Newcastle 500 delivers for city in 2019

The Supercars Newcastle 500 has delivered another successful event for the city in 2019, with solid attendance numbers, positive feedback from businesses, and tens of thousands of dollars raised for charity.
 
In its third year, the Newcastle 500 drew 154,000 people through the gates over the three day event, with police ‘extremely pleased’ with the ‘very respectful and well behaved’ crowd.

City of Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the Newcastle 500 continued to provide widespread exposure for the city.
“Newcastle was on show over the event weekend, with 344 media stories from Friday 22 to Sunday 24 November, reaching a combined domestic audience of more than 14 million people, with an estimated value of over $2 million.
 
“City of Newcastle’s social media was lit-up with 1.2 million individual impressions of the multiple posts shared including action shots from the track and videos showcasing the city bursting with activity.
 
“We’re seeing the city embrace the Newcastle 500 weekend as people get used to what the event truly means and the opportunities it creates.
 
“It was great to see Hunter Street Mall active with the Super-Duper Karts event, including music, a petting zoo and camel rides thanks to a local business-led event.
 
“We’re also seeing more positive feedback from city centre businesses, stating that the disruption from bump-in has reduced over time and most are reaping benefits of the event after tweaking their offerings to suit the event crowd.
 
“It has been especially pleasing to hear from business owners such as Luigi Gerardi, owner and chef at Rosina's Pizza Restaurant on Hunter Street who told the Newcastle Herald Supercars brought a 50 percent spike in trade.”
 
Cr Nelmes said the Newcastle 500 continued to provide a valuable fundraising opportunity, with the City of Newcastle’s annual Community and Business Leaders Fort Scratchley fundraiser contributing more than $61,000.
 
“The Newcastle 500 is bringing the community together and providing a platform to raise money for charitable causes. In 2019 this included more than $27,000 raised at the City’s annual Fort Scratchley event for Got Your Back Sista and Nova for Women and Children, in addition to $35,000 raised for bushfire affected communities by Fox Sports and local artist Mitch Revs.”
 
A Lord Mayoral Minute was supported at tonight’s Ordinary Council Meeting noting the success and ongoing benefits of the Newcastle 500 Supercars event.