Only a few short years after the gold rushes commenced the miners at Ballarat and Bendigo and the townspeople at Malmsbury dreamt of shady trees, green lawns, lakes and ducks, flowers beds and bandstands. And 150 years later their dreams survive...

Victoria’s reputation as the Garden State will be highlighted when the botanic gardens at Ballarat, Bendigo (White Hills) and Malmsbury celebrate their 150th anniversaries later this year. Founded only 16 years after the famous Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, the Goldfields gardens demonstrate just how up-to-date and visionary the civic ambitions of the gold rush generation were.

The anniversaries provide the perfect excuse to explore the gardens and to rediscover the broader heritage left behind by the world’s greatest gold rushes.

Goldfields Tourism has produced a brochure to celebrate the milestone, which has been distributed throughout Victoria via the September edition of the Gardening Australia magazine. The brochure can also be obtained from Visitor Information Centres in Ballarat, Bendigo and Castlemaine; or download your copy via the link below.

Details of five notable Goldfields' botanic gardens are included in the brochure, together with details of associated events running from September through November.

Gardens of the Goldfields
150 Year Anniversary Guide

(615KB)

On a recent visit to the region on 15 August, Tourism Minister Tim Holding was treated to an escorted tour of the Eureka Reef - located 3.5kms from Castlemaine, featuring indigenous and gold rush heritage.

Accompanying the Minister were Goldfields Campaign Committee Chair, Rod Thomson and Committee Member, David Bannear (Heritage Victoria). Writer, historian and long-time Castlemaine resident Robyn Annear also joined the tour to lend her valuable perspective.

The Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park was the 6th property to be listed on the National Heritage List and the focus of the Victorian Government's recent application to the Australian Government for a Goldfields World Heritage nomination.

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Tourism operators within the Mount Alexander Shire are being offered access to a wide range of ways to promote their business by the Tourism Services Unit of the Mount Alexander Shire Council.

The Tourism Services Unit (TSU) is now calling for local businesses who would like to be profiled in the soon to be produced Official Visitors’ Guide for the area. Over 50,000 copies of this brochure will be distributed through Victoria and key entry points in South Australia and New South Wales.

To coincide with the production of the Official Visitors’ Guide, TSU has released a full Tourism Marketing Opportunities Guide.

This guide provides a host of effective marketing and promotional opportunities that local business can take advantage of at a reduced rate.

Marketing guides have been mailed to 300 local businesses. If you haven’t received one and are interested, call Claire Baker, Mount Alexander Shire Council Tourism Services Unit, on 5471 1727 or drop into the Castlemaine or Maldon Visitor Information Centres.

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"The Music That Made Us
The Music That Makes Us"

October 5th, 6th and 7th sees the inaugural 3-day Sovereign Hill Music Festival. For the first time the outdoor museum will transform into a live music experience.

The Festival will feature the finest in today's adult contemporary and traditional music of the goldfields era.

Featuring Australia’s highest profile acts including The Waifs, Kate Ceberano, Mark Seymour, James Reyne, The Black Sorrows, Mick Thomas and Monique Brumby as well as traditional musical acts from the times, including The Bushwackers, Men o’ the Hill and Danny Spooner.

Performances from renowned choir groups including the Australian Welsh Male Choir, Sweet Mona’s Choir and Kavisha Mazzella & The Italian Womens’ Choir will be scattered throughout Sovereign Hill together with modern Irish music from the well-known Bulabos & Trouble in the Kitchen to make this festival a spectacular historical weekend.

There will also be plenty of children’s entertainment and activities for the kids to experience such as Dorothy the Dinosaur's Dance Party, the Hooley Dooleys, Magic Sally’s Faerie Rock Band as well as musical workshops including drumming with Afrobeat all performing at various locations against the historical backdrop of Sovereign Hill.

For further information and to purchase tickets Click Here

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Since the publication of the last Goldfields Industry Update, the Goldfields Campaign Committee has farwelled two of its members:

• Jeanette Horsley: formerly Economic Development and Tourism Manager, Pyrenees Shire Council
• Elissa O'Connor: formerly Manager Tourism Services, Mount Alexander Shire Council

The Committee extends its sincerest thanks to these members for their excellent contribution to the activities of Goldfields Tourism.

Committee vacancies will be filled at the Goldfields Tourism Annual General Meeting later this year.

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Overwhelming trader and visitor support for Clunes inaugural ‘Booktown for a Day’ will see the event return each year over one full weekend in May.

The organising committee has announced it will host the event annually on the first weekend of May, under the name ‘Back to Booktown’.

“Booklovers can mark 3-4 May 2008 on their calendar now”, said Hepburn Shire Councillor and member of the Booktown working party, Tim Hayes.

Cr Hayes said a full review of the inaugural event was now complete and provided a clear way forward for future Booktown events.

"The report “Clunes – Booktown for a Day: A review of the event and community participation” certainly confirms what we knew by 2pm on the day itself – that with 6000 visitors and more than 50 second-hand and limited edition booksellers trading out of our historic buildings, ‘Booktown for a Day’ had far exceeded all expectations”, Cr Hayes said.

“But perhaps more importantly, the review gives us a clear understanding as to how an annual Booktown event links into the broader vision of the Creative Clunes strategy aimed at long-term rural renewal for the town”, he said.

Based on the feedback, the working party will take a three-pronged approach to establishing a community-run enterprise in Clunes. This will comprise:

• Hosting an annual Booktown event on the first weekend of May
• Continuing to promote Clunes as an ideal location for a permanent Booktown – opening up the town’s historic public buildings to booksellers and related traders as part of a business development package
• Establishing an annual program of “Booktown artbreaks” in Clunes, offering top quality residential writing and art workshops.

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For the latest details of forthcoming events in the Goldfields region please click on the following local government area links to access events calendars:

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Questions or comments? Email us at Goldfields Tourism or call 03-5345 1004