In Conversation with Anna Romer

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

August 20 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 The Ghost of Briar Rose Anna Romer Everyone says the old mountainside house is haunted. Which is perfect because ghost hunter Cleary Branchwood knows it’s easy money. He’ll buy the propertydirt  cheap, flush out the poor wretch of a ghost they call Briar Rose, and resell […]

$10

In Conversation with Margaret Hickey

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

August 8 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 The Creeper by Margaret Hickey. The chilling new mystery novel from the award-winning author of bestsellers Cutters End, Stone Town and Broken Bay. Victim ... or killer? For the last decade, the small mountain town of Edenville in Victoria’s high country has been haunted by the horrific murders of five […]

$10

Preludes, Intermezzi and Nocturnes | Program 2

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

August 3 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm $25 Humffray Room Pianist and composer Spencer Vanderkley presents: An array of Romantic-era piano works, in a recital structured around the tradition of 'character pieces' in the 19th Century. Works by Chopin, Brahms, Tchaikovsky are brought together to chronicle the development of the prelude, the intermezzo and […]

$25

Preludes, Intermezzi and Nocturnes

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

August 3 @ 6:00 pm - 7:45 pm $25 Humffray Room Pianist and composer Spencer Vanderkley presents: An array of Romantic-era piano works, in a recital structured around the tradition of 'character pieces' in the 19th Century. Works by Chopin, Brahms, Tchaikovsky are brought together to chronicle the development of the prelude, the intermezzo and […]

$25

Ballarat Chess Club

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

Meet Thursdays in the Humffray Room

$3 – $80

In Conversation with Leah Kaminsky & Jacinta Halloran

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

July 29 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 Humffray Room Leah Kaminsky Leah is a physician and award-winning writer. Her debut novel, The Waiting Room, won the Voss Literary Prize. The Hollow Bones won both the Literary Fiction and Historical Fiction categories of the 2019 International Book Awards, and the 2019 American Book Fest’s […]

$10

In Conversation with Louise Le Nay

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

July 16 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 Humffray Room Edenhope Louise Le Nay. 'A moving story about one woman’s unconditional love, the kindness of strangers, and what’s right as well as what’s wrong with the way we live now.’ Amanda Lohrey, Miles Franklin Award-winning author of 'The Labyrinth' Marnie is sixty-three and downwardly […]

$10

In Conversation with Léonie Kelsall

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

July 12 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $10 The Homestead in the Eucalypts Léonie Kelsall. Sometimes finding the way forward means retracing your past. When student doctor Taylor Lawrence's city life is turned upside down, she seeks sanctuary on her grandparents' farm in the South Australian countryside. During the lonely nights, she fantasises of […]

$10

Ballarat Chess Club

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

Meet Thursdays in the Humffray Room

$3 – $80

Ballarat Chess Club

BMI - Humffray Room 117-119 Sturt Street, Ballarat Central, VIC, Australia

Meet Thursdays in the Humffray Room

$3 – $80

Tracey Lee Holmes: A Life Through Sport

Thu 4 September at 6pm

Dame Nellie Melba Birthday Celebration

  Performance – 18 May.

Tax Deductible 

Your gift will be tax-deductible this financial year if you make it before June 30.

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your help.

2024 End of Financial Year Appeal 

Or alternatively go to our Donations web page.

Our Challenge

Like many organisations the BMI faces significant funding challenges. 

We thank you for your support.
The Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute 2025 Calendar

Featuring the BMI Image Collection | Now $20

Devonshire Tea & Fashion Parade

Bubbly on arrival & Featuring quality items from our Vintage Shop | $60

Christmas Holiday Closures | Library

Monday 23 December – Sunday 5 January

Dame Nellie Melba Birthday Celebration

  Performance – 18 May.

Australian Heritage Festival Events at the BMI

18 April to 18 May

Connections to War from a Ballarat Perspective

Wed 2-30 April, 5.30pm

Ballarat Heritage Festival Events at the BMI

16 to 25 May 

portrait of author with book cover

Australian Heritage Festival

Natasha Lester in conversation

1 May at 6pm

with Michael Robotham

 Wed 20 August at 6pm

guides dressed in period costum

Australian Heritage Festival

Minerva's Secrets

25 April – Tour 1 at 7.30pm – fully booked
Tour 2 at 9.30pm – still tickets. 

portrait of author with book cover

Australian Heritage Festival

Natasha Lester in conversation

1 May at 6pm

Ballarat Heritage Festival BMI Day Tours

Two tours  on 20 &  21 May 

 

with Nicole Alexander

28 May at 6pm

with Gail Holmes

 Wed 4 June at 6pm

with Kylie Ladd

 Wed 25 June at 6pm

Ballarat Pride Month

Events at BMI

The Month of June 

Ballarat Winter Festival

Events at BMI

5 July – 27 July 

BMI Fundraiser

Featuring:
The Hideaways,
The Harmonies &
Surf Shadows. 

2 course dinner & lots
of dancing