Mr McKenzie’s sons David and Matt returned home for the Easter weekend to watch him don the family tartan in the annual parade.

The family was among thousands who lined the streets on Saturday to celebrate one of the biggest events on the Beechworth calendar.

Matt McKenzie said he could still remember going to the parade as a child.

“I brought my daughter, who is one, with me this year and she loved the parade,” he said.

“I can remember being on a fire truck one year as a kid, we used to love it.”

Hume and Ford streets were buzzing with excitement as the smell of a barbecue and street food wafted through the crowd.

People sought out balconies and children took to their parents’ shoulders to get the best view of the parade.

Faces lit up as Furry the giant bunny moved down the street and Easter eggs were thrown into the crowd.

Organiser Christine Cansfield-Smith said the day marked 160 years since a publicity stunt by aspiring politician Daniel Cameron that won him the first election.

“He rode into town from Woolshed — the richest claim at the time — on a horse shod with golden horseshoes,” Ms Cansfield-Smith said.

“They went to the Star Hotel and from the balcony they had the election, and he was the winner.”

The town drank for free that night as they celebrated Cameron’s win.

In his opening speech at the weekend, Indigo mayor Bernard Gaffney joked Cameron may have set the bar for modern politics.

“Some say politicians use the same tricks today,” Mr Gaffney said.

The festival had started on Good Friday with the Walk of Witness and it concluded yesterday with the children’s Easter egg hunt.