About the festival

Our Heritage History

Ballarat Heritage Weekend has ran since 2006 hosted by the City of Ballarat.

The event is a community cultural festival held annually in Ballarat as a major tourist attraction. The festival celebrates the city’s history drawing on Ballarat’s reputation as a historic Australian city.

The event has traditionally taken place on a weekend in May for two days each year in Ballarat’s CBD.

Over the years the event has include public access to selected historical buildings, vintage transport, including visits to the historic Ballarat railway station by Steamrail Victoria locomotives, vintage bus rides, double decker buses, vintage car displays, horse and cart and use of Ballarat’s preserved vintage tramway at the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, actors in period garb, architecture and history walking tours, and exhibits of private and public paraphernalia collections, theatrical performance and trade displays for heritage organisations.

The Ballarat Mining Exchange is regularly used as an exhibition space.

looking back in time

• 2006 – First festival was held in May.
• 2010 – Event featured swimsuits and accessories by Louis Vuitton.
• 2011 – An exhibit of Ballarat inventor Henry Sutton was shown.
• 2012 – “Childhood Memories” themed
• 2013 – Program included an exhibit featuring cars used in the filming of The Doctor Blake Mysteries, a 1960s themed dance event, historic mayoral portraits, and a private collection of retro games.
• 2016 – ‘Ignite Your Curiosity’ themed – Think steampunk and steam trains, quirky stories from the past, frivolous fashion, and speakeasy style.
• 2017 – “Unravel the Mystery, Discover The History” themed
• 2018 – “100 Years of Technology & Innovation” themed
• 2019 – “Our City, Our Stories” themed
• 2020 – History at home Series – seen a virtual weekend was held on grounds of COVID-19 pandemic.
• 2021 – Ballarat Heritage Festival returns

“The festival celebrates the city’s history drawing on Ballarat’s reputation as a historic Australian city.”

Councillor Daniel Moloney

Historical reference links

For further references and additional information visit the links below:

1. Eureka Centre – Visit website
2. Ballarat and District Genealogical Society – Visit website
3. Ballarat Libraries – More information
4. National Trust of Victoria (Ballarat Branch) – More information
5. Eureka Australia – Visit website