Ballarat Heritage Weekend

Ballarat Heritage Weekend is a community cultural festival held annually in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Run since 2006 by the City of Ballarat, it is a major tourist attraction. The festival follows a heritage theme drawing on Ballarat's reputation as a historic Australian city. Many of the events are free.

Ballarat Heritage Weekend
GenreFestival
Date(s)Mother's Day weekend, 7-8 May
Frequencyannual
Location(s)Ballarat
Years active14
Inaugurated2006
Attendance14,500 (2012)[1]
Organised byCity of Ballarat
Websitehttp://www.ballaratheritageweekend.com/

Popular recurring events include public access to selected buildings similar to Doors Open Days; vintage transport, including visits to the historic Ballarat railway station by Steamrail Victoria locomotives (Y112), 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 (1887−9) is regularly used as an exhibition space.

History
Attendance[1]
2008 4,000
2009 6,000
2010 8,000
2011 9,500
2012 14,500

The first festival was held in May 2006. The 2010 event featured swimsuits and accessories by Louis Vuitton.[2] In 2011, an exhibit of Ballarat inventor Henry Sutton was shown.[3] The 2012 event was themed "Childhood Memories" and featured a retro fashion catwalk[4] and screening of retro film trailers.[5] However the event was marred by vandalism of Steamrail Victoria's trains,[6] however the City of Ballarat pledged to contribute to the cleanup so that the train could return.[7]

The 2013 program included an exhibit featuring cars used in the filming of The Doctor Blake Mysteries,[8] a 1960s themed dance event,[9] historic mayoral portraits[10] and a private collection of retro games.[11] and an LP and rare records market.[12]

A virtual weekend was held in 2020 on grounds of COVID-19 pandemic.

References
  1. pg 12. MyBallarat. August, 2012 edition. City of Ballarat
  2. Brown, Emma (9 May 2010). "Heritage Weekend crowds up on last year". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  3. Quinlan, Kim (5 May 2012). "Get a vroom: Ballarat Heritage Weekend is here". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  4. Choahan, Neelima (13 May 2012). "Frills and thrills at Ballarat's Heritage Weekend". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  5. Keem, Jessica (7 May 2012). "Ballarat Heritage Weekend visitors to relive Brittania". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  6. Choahan, Neelima (14 May 2012). "Heritage train graffiti outrage". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  7. Oliver, Jordan (15 May 2012). "Heritage train graffiti outrage". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  8. Anderson, Fiona (30 April 2013). "Dr Blake Mysteries cars to lend 1950s nostalgia to Heritage Weekend". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  9. Cowie, Tom (3 May 2013). "Dress to impress for Ballarat Vintage Dance". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  10. Byrne, Patrick (10 May 2013). "Heritage weekend: historic mayoral portraits uncovered". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  11. Patrick, Byrne (7 May 2013). "Ballarat Heritage Weekend to relive board, video games". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  12. Cairns, Nicole (7 May 2013). "Heritage record fair to take over Police Lane". The Courier. Fairfax. Retrieved 11 May 2013.

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