22/10/2025 @ 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…
24/10/2025 @ 7:00 pm - 8:15 pm $20 – $35 Humffray Room Get Tickets Before Melba, there was Anna Bishop. The darling of the Goldfields, returns at last to Ballarat to tell her story and sing the music that we came to love her for. Anna’s extraordinary life returns to the stage. Through beloved arias like Lucia’s Mad Scene, The Last Rose of Summer, and Home Sweet Home,…
25/10/2025 @ 10:00 am - 4:00 pm $20 Plus bkg. feeMinerva RoomPlus bkg. fee Get Tickets Take part in this important BMI fundraiser Together with The Fashion in Time Club, a wide selection of special curated pieces from private collections will be on display. A variety of linen and lace taking you through the decades, 1880 to 1970. Fine hand made lace to…
26/10/2025 @ 10:00 am - 4:00 pm $20 Plus bkg. fee Minerva Room Plus bkg. fee Get Tickets Take part in this important BMI fundraiser Together with The Fashion in Time Club, a wide selection of special curated pieces from private collections will be on display. A variety of linen and lace taking you through the decades, 1880 to 1970. Fine hand made…
29/10/2025 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm $9.73 – $13.83 Bar open at 5pm $9.73 – $13.83 Humffray Room Get tickets A Surgeon Commander & A Leading Cook - Ballarat Connections to HMAS Sydney 2 in 1941 HMAS Sydney 2 Crew, 1934 It is nearly 84 years this November that the mighty pride of the Royal Australian Navy was lost together with 645 crew in…
29/10/2025 @ 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…
31/10/2025 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm $27.50 Meet at the BMI entrance 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…
31/10/2025 @ 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm $27.50 Meet at the BMI entrance 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…
05/11/2025 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm $9.73 – $13.83 Bar open at 5pm $9.73 – $13.83 Humffray Room Get tickets Recent War Memorabilia – from WW2 to Afghanistan. Left to right - Australian Service Medal - Afghanistan Medal - International Force East Timor Medal - Australian Service Medal for Korea - Iraq Medal - Vietnam Medal.On ANZAC, Vietnam Veterans and Remembrance Days each year…
05/11/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 6:45 pm Free Minerva Space Get Tickets Stella Day Out is a free one-day literary festival that celebrates and promotes the outstanding contributions of women and non-binary writers to Australian literature. The Swift Dark Tide by Katia Ariel In conversation Join Katia Ariel for an intimate conversation about her 2024 Stella shortlisted debut The Swift Dark Tide and her second novel Ferryman:…
05/11/2025 @ 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…
05/11/2025 @ 7:15 pm - 8:00 pm Free Minerva Space Get Tickets Stella Day Out is a free one-day literary festival that celebrates and promotes the outstanding contributions of women and non-binary writers to Australian literature. Cactus Pear for my Beloved: A Family Story from Gaza by Samah Sabawi In conversation 2025 Stella shortlisted author Samah Sabawi is joined by Fatima Measham to…
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
