18/09/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets The Florentine QuiltChrissie Bellbrae ‘Breath-taking settings, strong female characters, mystery, intrigue and romance ... The Florentine Quilt has it all, and will keep you up turning the pages long after your usual bedtime.’ - Pamela Cook, author, writing coach and podcaster. 'Three women connected in time to a medieval quilt and an ancient…
24/09/2025 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm $9.73 – $13.83 Bar open at 5pm $9.73 – $13.83 Humffray Room Get tickets Gold! Gold! A comparison between the Ballarat & Bendigo Goldfields. An overview of the production of gold and its implications from the goldrush era of the 1850s up until today in both the Ballarat and Bendigo regions. Historian Dr Phil Roberts will provide a…
24/09/2025 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Free – $12 – $12 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…
25/09/2025 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets Boney Creek: A ThrillerPaula Gleeson 'Smart, twisty...thriller, you won't want to miss...' - Sarah Pekkanen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Glass When several small-town locals die under mysterious circumstances, an aspiring journalist is determined to prove the connection between them, only to discover the dangerous secrets they…
30/09/2025 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Free Venue: Humffray Register Join Nicola Bryant (Program & Engagement Coordinator, CRAFT) and Kate Gerritsen (Director, Communications & Engagement, Regional Arts Victoria) Join Nicola Bryant (Program & Engagement Coordinator, CRAFT) and Kate Gerritsen (Director, Communications & Engagement, Regional Arts Victoria) to hear about the benefits of becoming a member of CRAFT and RAV.Hear about their advocacy…
01/10/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets One NightRozzi Bazzani One Night - Two Bodies - Three Crimes When Detective Sergeant Bec Harpin answers a call for help from her friend, barrister Carolyn Moorhouse, she suddenly finds herself on the wrong side of an investigation that threatens to derail her career. Not only does Bec have to decide how…
01/10/2025 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Free – $12 – $12 Lending Library These classes offer simple, practical methods to improve the quality of our life and develop inner peacethrough meditation and Buddhist teachings.The in-person setting fosters a supportive community andoffers real-time interaction with the teacher for personalized guidance.Classes include guided meditations and teachings to help us solve ourdaily problems and find the lasting…
04/10/2025 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm $18 Minerva Theatre Get tickets Join us at 7pm on October 4th for a screening of the cult classic Spaceballs to raise much needed funds for FightMND. In 2013, we lost my dad, Ian, from MND. In his memory, we are raising funds and participating in this year's FightMND Daniher's Drive to raise funds and awareness…
05/10/2025 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm $20 – $40 Humffray Room Get Tickets Brian Chapman & FriendsPianist Brian Chapman will be joined by violinist Susan Pierotti and cellist Rosanne Hunt. The Program. Glinka: Trio Pathétique in D minor.Shostakovich: Trio No.2 in E minor, Op.67Interval – Refreshments includedTchaikovsky: Trio in A minor, Op.50. Mikhail Glinka Dmitri Shostakovich Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky The Musicians Pianist Brian ChapmanEnglish-born pianist…
08/10/2025 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Free – $12 – $12 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…
09/10/2025 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm Award Winning Australian Documentary Best Melbourne Documentary 2024 at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, To Thank the Room is about the last 100 days of the iconic Brooklyn Arts Hotel in Fitzroy. This heart-warming and inspiring documentary is an intimate portrait of Maggie Fooke, the creator of the hotel, as she navigates the final days of this…
15/10/2025 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Free – $12 – $12 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…
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
