{"id":117576,"date":"2025-11-25T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=117576"},"modified":"2025-11-20T11:09:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T00:09:17","slug":"sovereign-hill-opens-for-christmas-shopping-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sovereign-hill-opens-for-christmas-shopping-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Sovereign Hill opens for Christmas shopping night"},"content":{"rendered":"

SOVEREIGN Hill will again open its doors to provide an opportunity for the community to shop for Christmas.<\/p>\n

To be held on Thursday 4 December from 6pm until 8pm, the free entry Christmas shopping night will provide a chance for visitors to browse the outdoor museum’s stores.<\/p>\n

Mark Hemetsberger, chief marketing officer, said the event provides a great opportunity for the community to shop locally for the festive season.<\/p>\n

“We are a charity and a registered not-for-profit business,” he said.<\/p>\n

“What that means is when you purchase a gift at Sovereign Hill your money is really doing two things: It’s giving a gift of something to someone you love and care about, but at the same time it’s also supporting a local charity that generates approximately $200 million a year into the local economy.”<\/p>\n

The night will include a chance to meet St Nicholas, go gold panning, try candle dipping, see confectionary demonstrations, and listen to Christmas tunes.<\/p>\n

“At Sovereign Hill we know that we are part of Ballarat\u2026 we know that our local community supports us and has done through thick and thin,” Mr Hemetsberger said.<\/p>\n

“Christmas shopping night is our chance to welcome our community into Sovereign Hill after hours and offer a festive environment that people can come and engage with each other.”<\/p>\n

Mr Hemetsberger said the event also provides a chance for residents of the Ballarat Local Government Area to purchase a locals pass, which cannot be bought online.<\/p>\n

The pass costs $69.50 for an adult and provides free entry to the outdoor museum for a year.<\/p>\n

“The locals pass is another offer that we’ve given to locals,” Mr Hemetsberger said.<\/p>\n

“We sold just over 6000 locals passes during Winter Wonderlights which means about five per cent of the entire Ballarat LGA now has a pass and we are hoping to grow that to 10 per cent.”<\/p>\n

For more information, visit the Sovereign Hill<\/a> website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SOVEREIGN Hill will again open its doors to provide an opportunity for the community to shop for Christmas. To be held on Thursday 4 December from 6pm until 8pm, the free entry Christmas shopping night will provide a chance for visitors to browse the outdoor museum’s stores. Mark Hemetsberger, chief marketing officer, said the event […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":117580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-117576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSovereign Hill opens for Christmas shopping night - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sovereign Hill is hosting a free Christmas shopping night on 4 December, offering festive activities, local gifts, demonstrations, and the chance to buy a Ballarat locals pass. 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