Festival to uncover Snake Valley’s history

CELEBRATE history, culture and community at the Snake Valley Heritage Weekend.

Across Saturday 3 May and Sunday 4 May visitors to the town on the edge of the Ballarat, Golden Plains and Pyrenees regions will be taken back in time through a range of events and activities.

Elissa Callahan, event coordinator, said she was inspired to run the event after Carngham Memorial Uniting Church was heritage listed.

“We’ve recently been heritage listed in the last 12 months so were looking to do something as part of the National Trust Heritage Festival,” she said.

“We’ve got quite a collection of heritage buildings within Snake Valley, so we wanted to invite other groups to participate.”

On Saturday 3 May from 1pm experience live music in the heritage listed Carngham Memorial Uniting Church from organist Rhys Boak, soprano Kate MacFarlane, and the Claritude clarinet quartet.

Visitors can take a self-guided tour of the Carngham General Cemetery with a curated guidebook throughout the weekend or drop by the St Brigid’s Catholic Church open day on Saturday 3 May from 10am until 2pm.

Saturday’s events will also include a sausage sizzle and cake stall at the Snake Valley Community Hall to coincide with the Federal Election from 8.30am until 2pm.

On Sunday, visit the Snake Valley Historical Society from 1pm to 4pm to hear stories about the region’s past or listen to live music at the Royal Hotel Snake Valley from 3pm until 5pm.

Simon Wylie, owner of the Royal Hotel Snake Valley said it was important to support the community initiative.

“It’s sort of been a theme of the pub to bring the community back to the hotel so an event like this is perfect,” he said.

“We need to put Snake Valley on the map for what it is and it has a lot of heritage buildings and a lot of heritage.”

For more information or tickets, visit the Snake Valley Heritage Weekend Facebook page.

The Australian Heritage Festival began on Friday 18 April and runs nationally until Sunday 18 May.