Everything you need to know about Ballarat Heritage Weekend
The city’s history will be relived as the Ballarat Heritage Weekend returns to town.
Last year thousands of people took a walk through the city’s past through a program of tours, entertainment, transport, talks, fashion and activities.
The theme this year is technology and innovation, giving visitors the chance to use technology to connect with history.
Returning in 2018 are Ballarat Heritage Weekend favourites such as the vintage steam trains, horse and carriage rides, Beard and Stache Competition and Tweed Ride.
Here’s all you need to know about the activities, music, tours, talks and fun of Ballarat Heritage Weekend 2018, which runs from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.
GETTING THERE
A free hop-on, hop-off shuttle service will run on a continuous loop through the Ballarat CBD from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. The Gold Bus service will pick up and drop off at Lydiard St (Mining Exchange), Sturt Street (Suttons building, Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute), SMB Campus - Lydiard Street South (Old Ballarat Gaol), Dawson Street (Ballarat Aprons Festival and Ballarat Woodworkers Guild Wood Show) and Lydiard Street North (Ballarat Train Station). Service is anticipated to run every 20 minutes from each location.
MAP
HIGHLIGHTS
Vintage steam trains
Enjoy a 45-minute round journey from the Ballarat Railway Station on a vintage steam train. Train services depart at 9.25am, 10.45am, 12.45pm, 2.05pm, 3.45pm on Saturday and Sunday. Book online at steamrail.com.au to beat the queues, or buy tickets at platform 2.
Ballarat Up and Under
Grab a virtual reality headset from upstairs at the Town Hall and explore the city’s hidden secrets. The guided digital tours will take you through underground shopfront, tunnels and cells, and in to some of Ballarat’s tallest towers for great views of the city. There’s also 3D tours of the Town Hall and other buildings that you can discover on your mobile phone or tablet.
The Town Hall is also home to the Heritage Expo where you can use costumes and props to put yourself in a green screen picture of old Ballarat, enjoy the Henry Sutton display, book binding activity, Telstra museum, vintage machinery displays and more from 10am to 5pm each day.
Goosechase
Download the Goosechase app and form a team to complete activities and trivia questions around the city.
Horse and carriage rides
Enjoy a short ride around the CBD on a horse-drawn Cobb and Co Carriage ride. Carriages depart from the Ballarat Town Hall from 10am to 5pm and cost $5 per ride.
Tweed Ride
One of the most eye-catching events of Ballarat Heritage Weekend is the Tweed Ride. Join the crowd, dress in your best tweed outfit and ride through Ballarat’s beautiful streets alongside scores of others on their vintage bicycles and cycle machines. If you prefer to keep your feet on the ground, watch them cruise through the heart of the city’s historic streetscape. The ride departs Camp Street at 11am on Sunday. Register at facebook.com/ballarattweedride
Ballarat’s Best Beard and Stache Competition
The city’s hirsute gentlemen are back with their impeccably groomed facial hair for Ballarat’s Best Beard and Stache Competition. Check out the offerings at Hop Temple from 12 noon Saturday.
TALKS AND ENTERTAINMENT
SATURDAY
10am David Hunt - 100 Years of Australian Inventions (BMI), Various talks at the Heritage Expo, (Town Hall), Longest History Lecture Ever! (BMI)
11am Radio Play Live! (Art Gallery of Ballarat), Pandora's Box (Post Office Gallery), Rethinking the Australian Legend - Legends of Flood (Alfred Deakin Place)
11.30am Fashion - In Conversation (Ballarat Mining Exchange)
12pm Ballarat's Best Beard and Stache Comp (Hop Temple), BTV6 Live Music Show (BMI), Talk - Art and Innovation at the Art Gallery of Ballarat (Art Gallery of Ballarat)
1pm Panel - New Technologies in Heritage Interpretation (BMI), Radio Play Live! (Art Gallery of Ballarat)
2pm BTV6 Live Show 6Tonight! (BMI), Victorian Silhouette Revealed (Ballarat Gold Museum), Art and Innovation at the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Fashion Parade (Mining Exchange)
3pm Radio Play Live! (Art Gallery of Ballarat), Rethinking the Australian Legend - Legends of Flood (Alfred Deakin Place)
4pm Panel - Remembering BTV6 (BMI), Working Dog Union (Helen McPherson Smith Theatre)
6pm Marissa Solini - Aprons Q&A (Art Gallery of Ballarat)
7pm 100 Years of Music Part 2 1969–2018 (BMI),
8.30pm Working Dog Union (Lost Ones Basement Bar)
SUNDAY
10am David Hunt - 100 Years of Australian Inventions (BMI), Various talks at the Heritage Expo (Town Hall),
11am Radio Play Live! (Art Gallery of Ballarat), Pandora's Box (Post Office Gallery), Rethinking the Australian Legend - Legends of Fire (Lost Ones Basement Bar)
12pm Fashion Parade (Ballarat Mining Exchange), BTV6 Live Music Show (BMI), Art and Innovation at the Art Gallery of Ballarat (Art Gallery of Ballarat)
1pm Panel - New Technologies in Heritage Interpretation (BMI), Radio Play Live! (Art Gallery of Ballarat)
2pm BTV6 Variety Show (BMI), Art and Innovation at the Art Gallery of Ballarat,
2.30pm Jack L Stacey Piano Concert (Art Gallery of Ballarat),
3pm Radio Play Live! (Art Gallery of Ballarat), Rethinking the Australian Legend - Legends of Fire (Lost Ones Basement Bar), Fashion Parade (Mining Exchange),
4pm Panel - Remembering BTV6 (BMI)
LIVE ENTERTAINMENT
100 Years of Music
One song from each of the past 100 years will be performed live over two nights in the Minerva Room at the Ballaarat Mechanics Institute. The jazz influence of 1918 to the late 1950s will be celebrated on Friday night, and the more contemporary tunes of 1960 to today will get the audience dancing on Saturday.
Pandora’s Box
First year Fed Uni performance students will introduce you to some of Ballarat’s most eminent inventors of years gone by including Henry Sutton, Tilly Thompson and Daisy Llewellyn. Travel through time and see the impact Ballarat inventions had on the world. 11am Saturday and Sunday on the steps of Post Office Gallery.
INFORMATION
The Ballarat Mining Exchange will act as an information hub for visitors looking for details about this year’s festival.
Full the full 2018 program visit heritageweekend.com.au or follow @BallaratHeritageWeekend on Facebook for updates.
