27/05/2024 @ 1:30 pm - 31/03/2025 @ 3:00 pm The Reading Room This volunteer run reading and discussion group meets monthly, the last Monday of the month, in the Heritage Reading Room (subject to availability) . Members will select books to be discussed which will include fiction, non-fiction, poetry and short stories. If you would like to be a part of this group (free…
16/01/2025 @ 5:30 pm - 26/06/2025 @ 10:30 pm $3 – $80 Meet Thursdays in the Humffray Room
05/02/2025 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm Free – $15 – $15 Lending Library These classes offer simple, practical methods to improve the quality of our life and develop inner peace through meditation and Buddhist teachings. The in-person setting fosters a supportive community and offers real-time interaction with the teacher for personalized guidance. Classes include guided meditations and teachings to help us solve our daily…
07/02/2025 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm $30 – $40 Get Tickets Olybird. Olybird Join us for an unforgettable evening of live music at the Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute, featuring the mesmerizing sounds of Olybird and the soulful harmonies of the Milla Williams Duo. Olybird will enchant you with their unique blend of heartfelt lyrics, intricate arrangements, and an unforgettable stage presence. Known for their soulful performances, Olybird creates…
09/02/2025 @ 3:00 pm - 5:30 pm $42 Get Tickets Join Adam Harvey as he celebrates his new album "Let The Song Take You Home". Adam will perform some new songs plus all of his hits and some classic country. Don't miss this special event filled with laughter and great country music. Get tickets $42 plus bkg fee. Get Tickets This event takes…
12/02/2025 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm Free – $15 – $15 Lending Library These classes offer simple, practical methods to improve the quality of our life and develop inner peace through meditation and Buddhist teachings. The in-person setting fosters a supportive community and offers real-time interaction with the teacher for personalized guidance. Classes include guided meditations and teachings to help us solve our daily…
13/02/2025 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm Pumping Northern Irish Comedy Kneecap is a comedic and musical start to our 2025 program. Rich Peppiatt’s raucous Irish-language debut feature is a semi-fictionalised biopic of the anarchic Belfast hip-hop band Kneecap and their rebellious civil rights mission to save the Irish language. Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap are the stage names of two erudite working-class hopefuls who exploded…
18/02/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $10 Humffray Room Get Tickets Cleaved Jane Cafarella. A story of loss, legs and finding family It’s important that genuine stories such as this be published to show the extra-ordinary, day-to-day courage of so-called ‘ordinary’ people - Highly recommended - Hazel Edwards OAM Former journalist for The Age and critically acclaimed Australian playwright and cartoonist, Jane…
19/02/2025 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm Free – $15 – $15 Lending Library These classes offer simple, practical methods to improve the quality of our life and develop inner peace through meditation and Buddhist teachings. The in-person setting fosters a supportive community and offers real-time interaction with the teacher for personalized guidance. Classes include guided meditations and teachings to help us solve our daily…
21/02/2025 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm $10 – $20 Get Tickets Hot Club Swing. Prepare for an evening of unforgettable music at the historic Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute, featuring the lively rhythms of Hot Club Swing and the captivating artistry of Amie Brûlée. Hot Club Swing will take you on a journey to the golden age of jazz with their vibrant gypsy swing sound. Drawing inspiration from the legendary…
25/02/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 Humffray Room Get Tickets Outrageous Fortunes Megan Brown & Lucy Sussex Megan & Lucy will be hosted in conversation by Dr. Meg Tasker The Adventures of Mary Fortune, Crime-writer, and Her Criminal Son 'Engrossingly illuminating and ultimately deeply moving' - John Connolly 'Mary Fortune's bold fictions electrified colonial Australia. But her own story, pieced together…
26/02/2025 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm $9 – $13 Bar open at 5pm $9 – $13 Humffray Room Get tickets Dancers on the Sea: Stories from Atauro Island, Timor-Leste 1994-2002 Speaker: Gabrielle Samson, Author Gabrielle SamsonGabrielle, a writer of fiction and memoir, has won national prizes for her short stories and has co-written a radio play produced by the ABC. She has lived and…
Minerva's Secrets Night Tours
Tue 19 May with special visit to Lantern Vaults
Tour 1 at 7pm – Tour 2 at 9pm.
Linen & Lace Exhbition
Includes Devonshire Tea | $20
Sat & Sun 22, 23 Oct
10am-4pm
Remembrance Day:
A Surgeon Commander & A Leading Cook - Recent War Memoribilia
Wed 29 Oct & 5 Nov, 5.30pm.
Coming soon…
Rozzi Bazzani. Stella Day Out: Katia Ariel & Samah Sabawi, Rachael Johns
Coming soon…
Dianne Dempsey, Chrissie Bellbrae, Paula Gleeson, Rozzi Bazzani.
Coming in November…
Stella Day Out, Ballarat, Rachael Johns & Margaret Hickey
Australian Heritage Festival
Minerva's Secrets
25 April – Tour 1 at 7.30pm – fully booked
Tour 2 at 9.30pm – still tickets.
Spring Season, History Talks:
Ballarat's Henry Lawson - The Dragon's Den - Gold! Gold! Gold!
Wed 3, 17 & 24 September, 5.30pm.
Bubbly on arrival & Featuring quality items from our Vintage Shop | $60
The Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute 2026 Calendar
Featuring illustrations from our Heritage Book Collection $40
Your gift will be tax-deductible this financial year if you make it before June 30.
Like many organisations the BMI faces significant funding challenges.
2 course dinner & lots
of dancing
