Award winning festival returns

THE region’s celebration of music, art, nature, and food is returning for a second time.

Hide and Seek festival will be back this November allowing locals and visitors to explore the hidden treasures of Moorabool Shire.

A range of events will be on offer in the towns of Ballan, Gordon, Blackwood, Bacchus Marsh, Myrniong and Leigh Creek.

Some of these include yoga in the park, a degustation dinner, a fairy doors arts trail walk, and a wind phone installation.

Ballan’s FlackPTO Gallery is one of the creative businesses getting involved with cyanotype workshops, exhibitions and live music.

“The workshop is to do with the early 1900s photography, and you basically coat the paper with an egg and expose it with sunlight,” said gallery owner Danielle Briglia.

“I just think it’s great for the community and being aware that Ballan is here as a lot of people don’t know about this little town and I think it’s got a lot to offer.”

The inaugural Hide and Seek festival was held in 2022 and it was the winner of the national award for Local Government creativity and culture.

“We’re super excited obviously to launch the second Hide and Seek Festival; it was such a success two years ago to the point where the council even won an award,” said Moorabool Shire mayor Cr Ally Munari.

“I think it was a little bit unexpected and it’s so exciting for our smaller towns to showcase what they are about.”

Hide and Seek festival will be on Friday 1 November until Sunday 10 November. The full festival program can be found on the Moorabool Shire website.