Lilac City Festival celebrations will be different this year.
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Australia's longest continuously-run community festival is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.
In the wake of the Covid-19 situation, the Lilac committee took the decision to hold the event virtually.
Lilac Committe president Carol James is urging people to dress up in Lilac colour and decorate their homes to show their support for the festival.
"Pictures from the 1950s, when the festival started, will be displayed around town so people will be able to see it when they are walking by," she said.
Daniel Strickland, vice-president of the Lilac City Festival committee, said that they were a bit unsure about what the situation would be over the October long weekend when the three-day festival is held.
Residents across the Southern Highlands are in lockdown that has been extended until midnight September 10.
"We had plans to hold the street parade this year but unfortunately those plans had to be shelved. There will be no markets or carnival rides this year either," Mr Strickland said.
"Hopefully, we will be able to make the Lilac City Festival a success, like we did last year."
In 2019, the Lilac committee took the decision to make the 69th year of the festival a no-contact event in the wake of COVID-19.
Last year, the festival marked the re-incarnation of the street parade which was missing for the few years and has a long history of community involvement.
The Lilac Queen will still be crowned and people can continue to vote for their favourite candidate. Jenna D'Apice, Shanay Little and Brittany Bryant are the contenders for the crown this year.
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The Lilac Queen candidates are selling raffle tickets so people can head to their Facebook pages which will have online options to purchase these tickets.
The committee is encouraging locals to participate by decorating their homes and businesses to dress up their windows in purple and lilac colours.
Popular events like the garden festival, Lilac Baby, Prince and Princess competitions will be held online. Details about participation in these events will be shared by the committee soon.
Meanwhile, Fun Run event that made a comeback last year will not be held this year.
The festival was named the Lilac City Festival because lilacs grew all along the back of Belmore Park and near the railway station at that time.
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