Online Heritage Weekend unlike the past

BALLARAT residents and tourists won’t be able to enjoy the city’s annual Heritage Weekend on its streets, so instead, the event is going virtual with History at Home.

This weekend, Saturday, 30 and Sunday, 31 May, local storytellers and experience providers will creatively share Ballarat’s historic charm in an online video series, in touch with a new digital audience, and potentially reaching around the globe.

Content will include stories of First Nations Peoples and the Wadawurrung country, Eureka sites of significance, Dark Histories tours with Nathan Buchanan of the Town Hall, Old Ballarat Gaol and Ballaarat Old Cemetery, and a vintage fashion show with blogger, Liana Skewes.

Cr Belinda Coates said there will be plenty of “fun, reflection and insight.”

“It’s all from the perspective and lens of some of our greatest storytellers. From beautiful autumnal adventures, through to ghostly nights, or bearded gents, this is history worth reliving and sharing,” she said.

The annual Beard & Stache Competition, normally hosted at Hop Temple, is also set for online showcase, alongside January’s inaugural Survival Day Dawn Service.

Liana Skewes will take viewers on a leafy virtual tour of the Tweed Ride’s usual route, Craig’s Royal Hotel will share stories of their guests and workers gone by, and Mick Trembath will reminisce about the city’s live music scene in the 80s, and tell great yarns from some of its old or former entertainment venues.

There’s information to discover about a local teacher who interrupted the agenda of bushranger, Ned Kelly, and tales unearthed from below the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute.

City of Ballarat mayor, Cr Ben Taylor said the virtual series is another creative way for residents to keep engaged with the events they love, and their fellow residents during this time of crisis.

Ballarat Heritage Weekend has moved to a digital format this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.