Twilight Talks 2024, Season 2, Session 6: History of Hoyts

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

May 29 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm $8 – $12 This special edition of our regular Twilight Talks series will feature speakers discussing the history of cinema in Ballarat, complimenting our free exhibition. Just a year after the Lumière brothers invented the cinematograph in 1895, the first screenings were held at the Mechanics' Institute, […]

$8 – $12

In Conversation with Léonie Kelsall

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

July 12 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 The Homestead in the Eucalypts Léonie Kelsall. Sometimes finding the way forward means retracing your past. When student doctor Taylor Lawrence's city life is turned upside down, she seeks sanctuary on her grandparents' farm in the South Australian countryside. During the lonely nights, she fantasises of […]

$10

In Conversation with Louise Le Nay

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

July 16 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 Humffray Room Edenhope Louise Le Nay. 'A moving story about one woman’s unconditional love, the kindness of strangers, and what’s right as well as what’s wrong with the way we live now.’ Amanda Lohrey, Miles Franklin Award-winning author of 'The Labyrinth' Marnie is sixty-three and downwardly […]

$10

In Conversation with Leah Kaminsky & Jacinta Halloran

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

July 29 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 Humffray Room Leah Kaminsky Leah is a physician and award-winning writer. Her debut novel, The Waiting Room, won the Voss Literary Prize. The Hollow Bones won both the Literary Fiction and Historical Fiction categories of the 2019 International Book Awards, and the 2019 American Book Fest’s […]

$10

In Conversation with Margaret Hickey

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

August 8 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 The Creeper by Margaret Hickey. The chilling new mystery novel from the award-winning author of bestsellers Cutters End, Stone Town and Broken Bay. Victim ... or killer? For the last decade, the small mountain town of Edenville in Victoria’s high country has been haunted by the horrific murders of five […]

$10

In Conversation with Anna Romer

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

August 20 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 The Ghost of Briar Rose Anna Romer Everyone says the old mountainside house is haunted. Which is perfect because ghost hunter Cleary Branchwood knows it’s easy money. He’ll buy the propertydirt  cheap, flush out the poor wretch of a ghost they call Briar Rose, and resell […]

$10

In Conversation with J.P. Pomare

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

September 4 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 17 Years Later: Who really killed the Primrose family by J.P. Pomare. The unputdownable new bestseller by multi-award-winning author J. P. Pomare. Who killed the wealthy Primrose family? The violent slaughter of the Primrose family while they slept shocked the nation. Their young live-in chef, Bill […]

$10

Author Talk with Fiona McIntosh

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

October 2 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 The Fallen Woman Fiona McIntosh. The heart-stopping new historical adventure from the bestselling author of The Sugar Palace.Botanical artist Jane Saville is devastated when her manipulative mother banishes her to the countryside to protect someone else’s honour. Isolated far from home, she is forced to live an […]

$10

Day Tours of the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute | Series

Lending Library 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, Victoria, Australia

A colourful history of the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute and it’s people. By appointment only, (to organise a volunteer guide we require 24hrs notice). Group Tours: Group tours can also be accommodated on other days.

$10
Tax Deductible 

Your gift will be tax-deductible this financial year if you make it before June 30.

We need
your help.

2024 End of Financial Year Appeal 

Or alternatively go to our Donations web page.

Our Challenge

Like many organisations the BMI faces significant funding challenges. 

We thank you for your support.

BMI Fundraiser

Featuring:
The Hideaways,
The Harmonies &
Surf Shadows. 

2 course dinner & lots
of dancing