Ballarat Heritage Festival 2026: Four Days of Hidden Histories Come to Life

The historic city of Ballarat is set to shine once again as the Ballarat Heritage Festival returns from 21 to 24 May 2026. This year’s expanded four-day program introduces the compelling theme of Hidden Histories, inviting visitors to uncover the lesser-known stories that have shaped one of Australia’s most fascinating regional destinations.

Blending culture, creativity, and community, the festival offers an immersive journey through time, from ancient First Nations heritage to gold rush migration and the vibrant city Ballarat is today.

Ballarat Revealed Hidden Histories Shared Together

At the heart of the 2026 program is Ballarat Revealed, a major exhibition housed within the Ballarat Mining Exchange. This central showcase transforms the historic venue into a living narrative space, where curated displays explore defining moments, communities, and perspectives from Ballarat’s past.

A highlight of the exhibition is the large-scale replica of Ballarat’s 1901 Chinese Arch, symbolising the important contribution of Chinese communities during the gold rush era. Alongside this, a dedicated First Nations exhibition presents stories of Country and culture from the Wadawurrung people, Traditional Owners of the region.

Open daily from 10am to 5pm with free entry, this exhibition offers a powerful and accessible starting point for festival visitors.

Signature Events and Returning Favourites

The festival’s diverse program features a range of beloved events alongside new additions, ensuring something for every interest.

The Ballarat Antique Fair returns to the Ballarat Civic Hall, showcasing exceptional pieces from 28 leading dealers across Australia. Visitors can browse furniture, jewellery, fine art, and collectables while exploring more than five decades of antique tradition.

At Sovereign Hill, the Heritage Harvest Weekend celebrates regional produce, makers, and culinary talent. With live cooking demonstrations, workshops, and guest appearances from leading food personalities, it is a highlight for food lovers and families alike.

Meanwhile, the lively Ballarat Beard and Stache Competition at Hop Temple adds a playful twist, alongside the equally entertaining Dog Beard and Stache Competition.

Step Back in Time with Classic Experiences

Ballarat Heritage Festival

Festivalgoers can immerse themselves in Ballarat’s past through a variety of hands-on heritage experiences.

The Vintage Car Show along Camp Street showcases more than a century of automotive history, from early twentieth century machinery to iconic designs from the late twentieth century.

Steamrail Victoria brings the romance of rail travel back to life with heritage train journeys to Yendon, offering a nostalgic journey through the countryside. Visitors can also arrive in style with special heritage services connecting Melbourne and Ballarat.

Horse and carriage rides departing from Ballarat Town Hall provide a slower, more elegant way to explore the city’s historic streets and grand architecture.

Discover Ballarat Through Food, Drink and Storytelling

The 2026 festival also introduces a rich program of culinary and storytelling experiences that highlight Ballarat’s evolving identity.

Visitors can explore the history of brewing through curated tastings, uncover the city’s baking traditions from First Nations roots to gold rush bakeries, or dive into the early days of distilling with immersive tours and tastings.

Exclusive building tours of Craig’s Royal Hotel offer rare access to hidden spaces, combining history with a classic Devonshire tea experience.

New Exhibitions Illuminate Untold Stories

A series of new exhibitions adds depth and diversity to the 2026 program. From after-dark museum experiences to contemporary art installations, these showcases explore Ballarat’s history through fresh and creative perspectives.

Highlights include exhibitions celebrating LGBTIQA plus figures connected to the region, historic photography collections, and major artworks that capture Ballarat’s evolving identity across time.

A Festival That Connects Past and Present

Ballarat Heritage Festival

The Ballarat Heritage Festival 2026 is more than a celebration of history. It is a dynamic exploration of identity, culture, and community, bringing together stories that continue to shape the city today.

With its engaging program, accessible experiences, and vibrant atmosphere, the festival offers a compelling reason to visit Ballarat and discover its hidden histories from a new perspective.

Ballarat Heritage Festival

Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Website: https://ballaratheritagefestival.com.au

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Australian Heritage Festival 2022 on from 1 April - 31 May

An annual celebration of natural, historic and Indigenous heritage places and activities across NSW and nationally, the Australian Heritage Festival is the nation’s largest community-driven heritage event.

Featuring a massive program of FREE and ticketed events and activities including exhibitions, walking tours, films, expert talks, workshops, food fairs, tours of historical sites, ceremonies, demonstrations, special dinners, lunches and so much more, the Australian Heritage Festival 2022 will be on from 1 April – 31 May.

For more than 40 years, the National Trust has connected the nation through the Australian Heritage Festival. Established in 1980 with this year’s theme of Curiosity, the Festival offers families, nature, history and culture-enthusiasts an ideal opportunity to become immersed in the unique heritage of NSW through special access to some our most extraordinary heritage hotspots.

Furthermore, the Festival also provides patronage, support and deserved-recognition to many community-based groups and organisations featured in the Festival program that have been through an incredibly tough few years.

“We are thrilled to present the Australian Heritage Festival for 2022” said Debbie Mills, Chief Executive Officer of the National Trust (NSW). “After an incredibly tough few years, this is a fantastic opportunity for the community to get out and explore heritage locally. Our theme is ‘curiosity’ and I’d encourage everyone to be inquisitive about heritage, and to actively discover our diverse and vibrant past. With over 150 events and activities throughout NSW, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.’’

The 2022 Australian Heritage Festival program is now live for public viewing online. Event organisers who have not yet registered are still encouraged to list events for inclusion over the next month.

The Australian Heritage Festival is coordinated annually by the National Trust of Australia and is supported by the NSW Government through Heritage NSW.

Each year the festival features a program of FREE and ticketed events and activities that operate right across New South Wales, as well as online offerings.

Highlights include:

• April: Walking on Country – Youth, Parramatta - A rare opportunity for youth to join together with Aboriginal guides to delve into Aboriginal culture, discover how traditional owners cared for Country, and learn how to contribute to a sustainable future.
• April: Oracles of The Bush, Tenterfield – A unique cultural event encompassing live performance of Australian Bush poetry, music and art.
• April: Curious Talks and Tea, Riversdale, Goulburn - A special chance to join the museum guide and head gardener at Riversdale (the former home of NSW Surveyor-General, Edward Twynam) for morning tea, a curious talk and a tour of the homestead and stunning gardens.
• April & May: The People’s Park – Theatre and History Come Together, Centennial Park - A 90-minute promenade visiting landmarks of Centennial Park; a myriad of historical facts, secret spots and vibrancy nestled in amongst wildlife and nature.
• April & May: Apprentice Archaeologists for Kids, Parramatta – A unique chance for children to spend time with a real archaeologist and try their hand at archaeological investigation and recording.
• April & May: Retford Park, Bowral –Retford Park is a special place recently opened to the public, with colourful art exhibitions, house tours, garden tours, gardening and fungi workshops, and a delightful self-led art and nature trail for families on offer throughout the festival period.
• April & May: Sutherland Shire Citizens' Heritage Festival – An array of colourful events run by Shire organisations including music concerts, exhibitions, museum open days and more. A vintage bus will transport the community between venues.
• April & May: Dundullimal Homestead, Dubbo – A diverse selection of activities are on offer including special talks, an afternoon of opera and the Schools Reconciliation Challenge exhibition, powerful in its appreciation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ methods of caring for Country.
• April & May: Making Good: Convict Artisans in Exile, Old Government House, Parramatta – An exciting new exhibition exploring the lives of convict artisans who used their ingenuity, skill and perseverance to transform their place of exile into a thriving modern settlement. Special tours and hands-on workshops available.
• April & May: Heritage on the Harbour, Pyrmont - Explore Sydney aboard a restored heritage vessel. Hear maritime stories and little-known facts of Sydney’s waterways, and learn of their transformations by convicts, sailors, scientists and more.
• April & May: Autumn Colours, Bathurst – An exciting celebration of Bathurst’s rich history during its most spectacular season. Includes an unmissable series of guided tours and events.
• May: Unpacking The Past, Parramatta – A rare opportunity to visit key archaeological sites in Parramatta, each delivering amazing insights into our Aboriginal and colonial past. Join an intriguing guided tour and meet archaeologists involved in the current excavations.
• May: Down The Rabbit Hole At Bella Vista Farm, Bella Vista – A family-friendly fun-filled day out involving unmissable displays, tours of the homestead and farmyard, fleecy livestock, children’s heritage games, quizzes, music and more.

Escape to Tasmania This Winter - on a Guided Walk

In convict times, Maria Island's “guests” were trying their best to escape the Darlington penal colony. Now travellers are happy to pay to escape to this beautiful destination renowned for amazing landscapes, well-preserved history and a vast array of wildlife.

Perfect for a winter weekend getaway complete with fresh air, cosy accommodation and plenty of good Tasmanian red wine at the end of the day here are five reasons to consider The Maria Island Walk for your winter escape:

1. Easy getaway – 

No need to burn up excessive annual leave days and frequent flyer miles, this short getaway will leave you feeling like you've been a million miles from nowhere The Maria Island Walk Winter Escape is an easily achieved three-day/two-night experience offering guests spectacular walks during the day, followed by delicious meals and matching wines in the evening and concluding with a warm, comfortable bed to sleep in at night. Guests are picked up in Hobart in the early morning and after a scenic 90 minute drive to Triabunna followed by a short ferry ride across Mercury Passage, are strapping on their walking boots within a couple of hours.

2. Instagram worthy - 

The guided, pack-free winter walks leave and return to Bernacchi House daily and vary in length and difficulty (guests can walk as much or as little as they like). Strolls along the gentler tracks reward walkers with close ups of the local wildlife including lumbering wombats, elegant Cape Barren Geese and a growing insurance population of Tasmanian Devils. They can also take in some of the spectacular landscape visiting the Painted Cliffs and Fossil Bay. For the more adventurous, who choose to climb to the top of Mount Bishop and Clerk, the highest point on the island, the result is extremely worthwhile offering up panoramic views over the eucalypt forests and out across the Pacific Ocean.

3. Historic lodgings - 

During winter, guests are accommodated for both nights at heritage listed Bernacchi House in the world heritage convict settlement of Darlington. The house, dating back to 1880 when it was home to Italian settler and pioneer Diego Bernacchi, has been beautifully restored providing comfort and warmth as guests are greeted on arrival with a roaring open fire.

4. Tasmania's oldest penal colony – 

With a history that pre-dates Port Arthur, Darlington is one of the country's best-preserved World Heritage sites providing visitors with amazing stories of early Australia. Its 14 convict buildings and ruins are considered the most representative and intact example of a probation station in Australia. Its early industrial period championed by entrepreneur, Diego Bernacchi, saw the creation of a cement industry and even its own wellness resort in the early 1900's.

5. Guides by day and chefs by night – 

guests are treated to a delicious array of local produce throughout their stay. From relaxed breakfasts to a glass of Tasmanian wine served with a fabulous cheese board on the verandah of Bernacchi House, followed by a candlelit dinner recounting stories from the day – our guests never go hungry.

The Winter Escapes walk has varying departure dates until 31 August and costs $1,490 per person reflecting a special seasonal price.

Contact The Maria Island Walk team on 03 6234 2999 or email bookings@mariaislandwalk.com.au for bookings and further details.

The cost includes return transfers from Hobart to Triabunna, the scenic cruise across the pristine waters of the Mercury Passage to Maria Island, gourmet Tasmanian food and wine, two experienced guides, National Park entry fees, accommodation and use of waterproof jackets and day packs.

Website: www.greatwalksofaustralia.com.au