The highlights include:
· Visits to private houses and gardens, generally closed to the public, such as Ercildoune Homestead Garden, Lal Lal Estate and Loreto Chapel and Gardens;
· Self guided and led tours in and around Ballarat, including ghost and cemetery tours, statues, the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Her Majesty’s Theatre, the railway station and the Mechanics Institute;
· Take a ride on a vintage bus, horse-drawn carriage or steam train;
· Enjoy Ballarat’s seductive streetscapes with monuments to those killed in the Eureka Stockade, to the explorers Burke and Wills, the Scottish poet Robert Burns, and to Queen Victoria. Check out the Titanic bandstand, erected by music-loving citizens in 1913 to honour the bandsmen of the doomed ship.
· High tea delights at Heritage on Lydiard and Craig’s Royal Hotel – where American writer Mark Train feasted in 1891 and Dame Nellie Melba sang from the balcony in 1908.
"The Ballarat Heritage Weekend reminds us that heritage is not just about old buildings," said Samantha McIntosh, City of Ballarat Portfolio Councillor for Destination and Connections.
"It is about our stories, customs, rituals, traditions and the intangible aspects of life that enrich our existence.”
The Ballarat Heritage Weekend information centre will be located in the Ballarat Mining Exchange in Lydiard Street.
Please visit www.ballaratheritageweekend.com for more information or phone 1800 44 66 33.