04/05/2025 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Humffray Room The Deepest Thing: A Poetic Memoir E A Gleeson. An Afternoon of folk music and poetry. The Deepest Thing: A Poetic Memoir | E A Gleeson The poetic memoir portrays the beauty and harshness of my sister Denise’s life. The poems depict the reality of her medical conditions, the characteristics of her personality…
07/05/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets The House of Kwa Mimi Kwa. The dragon circles and swoops ... a tiger running alone in the night ... Mimi Kwa ignored the letter for days. When she finally opened it, the news was so shocking her hair turned grey. Why would a father sue his own daughter? The collision…
07/05/2025 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Free – $12 – $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…
08/05/2025 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm Italian Neorealist Drama The Bicycle Thief is regularly voted one of the greatest films of all time. It was a key example of the Italian ‘cinema of the real’ which heralded a new kind of cinematic naturalism, employing non-professional actors and filming on the streets of a post-war Europe. Antonio, a poor father, is on the…
09/05/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Free Venue: The Basement Get Tickets Seedpod ballarat: Oubliette Gemma Cavoli, 'Oubliette' | Photo: Jennie Courtney ‘Oubliette’ is the new work in progress by Seedpod residency artist Gemma Cavoli. Taking its cue from the French verb oublier – to forget – the work interweaves stories of hidden occupancies, silenced voices and marginal spaces. With audiences as…
09/05/2025 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm $28.23 – $41.82 Venue: Minerva Theatre Get Tickets Lost Voices Presents: The Amazing Lucas Girls This play will be coming straight from its season at The Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 2 as part of: HerStory Arts Festival The Amazing Lucas Girls is a beautiful story of women courageously and caringly banding together in adversity. After sellout audiences of Forgotten (based…
10/05/2025 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Free Venue: The Basement Get Tickets Seedpod ballarat: Oubliette Gemma Cavoli, 'Oubliette' | Photo: Jennie Courtney ‘Oubliette’ is the new work in progress by Seedpod residency artist Gemma Cavoli. Taking its cue from the French verb oublier – to forget – the work interweaves stories of hidden occupancies, silenced voices and marginal spaces. With audiences as…
10/05/2025 @ 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm $28.23 – $41.82 Venue: Minerva Theatre Get Tickets Lost Voices Presents: The Amazing Lucas Girls This play will be coming straight from its season at The Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 2 as part of: HerStory Arts Festival The Amazing Lucas Girls is a beautiful story of women courageously and caringly banding together in adversity. After sellout audiences of Forgotten (based…
10/05/2025 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm $28.23 – $41.82 Venue: Minerva Theatre Get Tickets Lost Voices Presents: The Amazing Lucas Girls This play will be coming straight from its season at The Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 2 as part of: HerStory Arts Festival The Amazing Lucas Girls is a beautiful story of women courageously and caringly banding together in adversity. After sellout audiences of Forgotten (based…
14/05/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.78 Humffray Room Get Tickets Burning Mountain Darcy Tindale. Five friends went up - Four came down. ‘Dark, wild and cracking with tension, Burning Mountain leaves other outback noir titles in the red dust.’ - Jack Heath Detective Rebecca Giles returns in Darcy Tindale’s highly anticipated sequel, Burning Mountain. Drawing inspiration from Darcy’s childhood in the…
14/05/2025 @ 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…
16/05/2025 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm $28.69 Get Tickets Explore tales of the weird and supernatural – the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute at night. Looking for a unique way to explore Ballarat’s rich history and culture? Look no further than the Ballaarat Mechanics Institute’s Night Tours! This beautiful heritage building dates back to the 1860s and boasts a fascinating history that is just…
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
