Off the back of a successful debut event last year, the latest installment from the Ballarat duo spearheading the region's slow travel movement is set to tantalise sight, sound and taste.
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Building upon their Hidden Lanes tour, which first began in May 2022 as part of the Ballarat Heritage Festival, Hidden Lanes co-founder Emma Hall said their second iteration was sparked by patron feedback as well as a need to showcase the city's flourishing arts and food scenes.
"We had some more requests for more specific events, because the first one we launched was kind of very general, just like slow travel, artists, businesses, history and things like that, just as a kind of a nice overview of Ballarat's experiences," Ms Hall said.
"But after getting some feedback, and questionnaires people were really interested in other things, like art and food so we thought we would launch this as well, and see how that goes."
Garnering more than 300 people, including a third of participants from interstate, predominantly from Melbourne from their first event, other Hidden Lanes co-founder Jarrod Hall said this tour would also be a boon for both local eateries and eager customers especially during such a harsh financial climate.
"These people are very passionate about their business. They love their food, they love their home brewed beer, they love their home brewed gin and they want to share that passion and nine times out of 10 in Ballarat, you'll find the owner in the restaurant; so this is just kind of allowing us to work more closely with some specific businesses to offer a more catered food experience," Mr Hall said.
While taking in the picturesque views of the region's character as part of the tour and at their own leisure, participants will also have the opportunity to engage in a drawing workshop, titled I Can't Draw, with revered Ballarat artist, Pauline O'Shannessy-Dowling.
Ms O'Shannessy-Dowling, who is based at the Lost Ones Gallery and Makers Studio on Camp Street, will be presenting a class of this nature for the first time.
She said she's hoping the workshop will allow patrons to tap into their inner creative.
"I'll have people set up at their own workspace, and they'll have their own collection of materials and I'll have a series of creative tasks that they can do so it's not too overwhelming, it's accessible and it's fun," Ms O'Shannessy-Dowling said.
"So it's a little reminder that you can be creative."
She said some ideas she has up her sleeve as part of the workshop include allowing patrons to test out their dexterity using their left and right hands and implementing finer tools such as larger crayons.
The tour will also pay homage to the Sturt Street's Titanic Memorial Bandstand with a violin performance by Ballarat Grammar year 10 student, Benjamin Gilbert.
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Benjamin will be playing from a repertoire of songs which were composed prior to the Titanic sinking in 1912.
There will also be the chance to connect with renowned Australian fashion designer, Nicola Cerini at her Bakery Hill studio.
Hidden Lanes' Ballarat and Art Culinary Journey tour will kick off at 10am on March 4. To find out more head to hiddenlanes.com.au/ballarat-art-culture-culinary-journey
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Malvika Hemanth
Malvika has a strong interest in covering stories on welfare, cost of living pressures and the arts. She works on the unceded lands of the Wadawurrung people and pays her respect to elders past, present and emerging.
Malvika has a strong interest in covering stories on welfare, cost of living pressures and the arts. She works on the unceded lands of the Wadawurrung people and pays her respect to elders past, present and emerging.
