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August 1 @ 7:00 pm - 11:50 pm $150 Get Tickets The Anything for a Mate (AFAM) Charity Ball is on again. The AFAM Ball was an idea from a group of friends who wanted to do something to help a mate. What it evolved into was the biggest non-corporate donation made to The NBCF in 2026. In memory of our dearly loved daughter,…
August 3 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.00 Humffray Room Get Tickets Cold River Margaret Hickey Margaret will be in conversation with author Gregory Flood Deep in the mountains, secrets grow deadly... Detective Constable Sally White knows how easily hikers can go missing in Victoria’s high country. But there’s something about the disappearance of Louis Taylor, a young man lost up Mount Viking,…
August 7 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm $15 Get Tickets Before digital databases and photography, how did we learn about the natural world? This Biodiversity Week, discover the BMI’s rare set of Ferdinand von Mueller’s Educational Collections of Victorian Plants (1874–1876). Designed to “diffuse information on the native vegetation” across Victoria, this historic herbarium and book collection reveals how early scientific communication cultivated…
August 7 @ 7:30 pm - 8:40 pm $44.90 Minerva Space Presented by KEG Touring Get Tickets A Bit Scared Blake Pavey rose to online fame at just 17 years old through his character based sketch comedy on TikTok. Since then, he has amassed over 1 Million followers across social media. He's now converted his online presence onto the stage with some absolutely killer…
August 9 @ 12:30 pm - 3:30 pm $42 – $47 Minerva Space Doors open 12.30pm | 1.30pm show-time Get Tickets Lawrence Mooney Lawrence Mooney is one of Australia’s most popular and best known Comedians and recently he has appeared as the man behind all of those wonderful characters on The Front Bar. This veteran of stage, radio and television is at the Ballarat Mechanics Institute for…
August 12 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm $11.00 Humffray Room Get Tickets The Frock Shop Sophie Green Sophie will be in conversation with radio presenter Jane Nield Meet the Ladies of The Frock Shop Where clothes are just the start of the story Australian bestseller Sophie Green returns with a sparkling story about the beauty of the second-hand, the power of second chances, and becoming…
August 13 @ 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm Minerva Room Brazilian Dystopian Sci-fi The Blue Trail depicts a dystopian world, one that functions as a wry social critique rather than containing any lasting sense of terror or gloom. In a futuristic Brazil, retirement has questionable consequences. 77-year-old Tereza is hailed as a ‘national living heritage’, yet she will soon be forced to live in a…
August 20 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm $15 – $30 Minerva Space I won't tell, if you won't. Playwright: Joanna Richards Directed by Ruby Abbott You Can’t Tell Anyone is a philosophical thriller that examines the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Thanks to a game of Paranoia, this group of teens will never be the same again. No one is safe, not even the audience.…
August 21 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm $15 – $30 Minerva Space I won't tell, if you won't. Playwright: Joanna Richards Directed by Ruby Abbott You Can’t Tell Anyone is a philosophical thriller that examines the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Thanks to a game of Paranoia, this group of teens will never be the same again. No one is safe, not even the audience.…
August 22 @ 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm $15 – $30 Minerva Space I won't tell, if you won't. Playwright: Joanna Richards Directed by Ruby Abbott You Can’t Tell Anyone is a philosophical thriller that examines the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Thanks to a game of Paranoia, this group of teens will never be the same again. No one is safe, not even the audience.…
August 22 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm $15 – $30 Minerva Space I won't tell, if you won't. Playwright: Joanna Richards Directed by Ruby Abbott You Can’t Tell Anyone is a philosophical thriller that examines the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Thanks to a game of Paranoia, this group of teens will never be the same again. No one is safe, not even the audience.…
August 23 @ 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm $15 – $30 Minerva Space I won't tell, if you won't.Playwright: Joanna RichardsDirected by Ruby Abbott You Can’t Tell Anyone is a philosophical thriller that examines the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Thanks to a game of Paranoia, this group of teens will never be the same again. No one is safe, not even the audience.It’s the end…
Minerva's Secrets Night Tours
Tue 19 May with special visit to Lantern Vaults
Tour 1 at 7pm – Tour 2 at 9pm.
Remembrance Day:
A Surgeon Commander & A Leading Cook - Recent War Memoribilia
Wed 29 Oct & 5 Nov, 5.30pm.
Calling for Pre-loved books
These donation assist in our Library Fundraising Activities
We can take delivery during regular Library operating hours. See website footer.
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
Pre-Sale $60 from 6 Aug to 9 Aug - $65 thereafter
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
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