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Saturday 22nd September – Sunday 7th October
These spring school holidays, families are invited to a fun and festive Gold Discovery celebration at Victoria’s most treasured family tourist attraction, Sovereign Hill. Rejoicing the discovery of ‘The Destiny Nugget’ – a 3.6kg gold nugget found recently in the Golden Circle region of central Victoria, the whole town will come alive at a daily grand parade with decorations, music, fanfare and celebration. The Destiny Nugget will be the sparkling centerpiece of the procession and showcased to visitors as the parade makes its way through Sovereign Hill, as was the custom in the 1850s.
With the spring sun coming out, the museum has planned a range of fantastic outdoor activities including animal tours where visitors can cuddle and feed baby animals; hands-on goldfields gardening adventures and role-playing as a real 1850s Redcoat soldier. There will also be interactive theatre and musical performances and a range of fascinating new exhibitions at the Gold Museum.
In addition to the special spring holiday events on offer, all of Sovereign Hill’s regular activities will be available right throughout the school break. Colourful candle dipping, bowling at the 1850s bowling saloon, witnessing the fascinating $150,000 gold pour, 1850s-style shopping, underground mine tours and of course, panning for real gold!
Spring School Holiday Activities include:
GOLD DISCOVERY PARADE
Discovering gold could be a life-changing event for a miner on the goldfields and certainly cause for celebration. Throughout the school holidays, Main Street will be decorated with colourful bunting and ribbons to mark the discovery of The Destiny Nugget. All the townspeople will come and join the party as the nugget is paraded through Sovereign Hill to much fanfare and excitement!
TIME: 1.30 pm daily
WHERE: Main Street
SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES
ANIMALS ON THE GOLDFIELDS
Children can experience close encounters with Sovereign Hill’s farm animals on this roving tour! Visitors will meet our newest arrivals as you assist with feeding the goats and kids, and pat the lambs.
TIME: Bookings essential, as places are limited
WHERE: Victoria Theatre
Suitable for ages 2-6
JOIN THE REDCOATS
The Redcoats are seeking girls and boys between 7 and 12 years of age to join the British Army’s 40th Regiment of Foot in Ballarat. In this special school holiday program, children will be introduced to the daily life of a Redcoat Soldier encamped on the goldfields. New recruits will enlist, get a uniform and learn about camp duties, a soldier’s drill, army doctoring and how the Redcoats fire their muskets.
TIME: Book early, as places are limited.
WHERE: Victoria Theatre
Suitable for ages 7-12
DISCOVER THE GARDENS OF THE GOLDFIELDS
Join Sovereign Hill’s horticulturist and meander through the splendid flourishing gardens! Children will discover each garden’s secret and enjoy the stunning beauty and tranquility. Visitors will be amazed at how a simple garden can assist to establish a new society. The tour includes a take home cottage garden seeds!
TIME: 1.00 pm
Monday to Friday
WHERE: Bright View garden
SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES
LITTLE RED ROBIN HOOD
Pantomime was a traditional activity on the goldfields and Little Red Robin Hood is an hilarious mashed-up rendition of the much loved fairy-tales ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and ‘Robin Hood’. The two stories have been combined into one play, reinventing the classics in a comical pantomime with a wonderful new twist.
TIME: 2.15 pm daily
WHERE: Victoria Theatre
SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES
MUSIC OF THE GOLDFIELDS
Sovereign Hill’s resident performers, ‘The Welcome Strangers’ will bring music to the goldfields and help visitors learn a traditional goldfields song or two. An interactive session with toe-tapping live music and singing.
TIME: 3.30 pm
WHERE: Victoria Theatre
SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES
POST HASTE
TIME: 4.00pm
WHERE: Gold Museum
SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES
Visitors can choose and colour in one of Sovereign Hill’s signature postcards and then mail it home to a family member or friend.
FASCINATING EXHIBITIONS at the GOLD MUSEUM
150 Years of the Geelong Ballarat Railway
Re-live the golden days of steam with early photographs, maps and documents that reveal the story of the coming of the railway to Ballarat in April, 1862.
Ballarat the Beautiful: Early 20th Century Tourism in the Golden City
Ballarat has been promoted as a tourist destination since the 1870s, when first guidebooks were produced. After 1900, the Ballarat Progress Association began a very concerted effort to boost the local economy through tourism. This exhibition presents something of the excitement the travel guides were designed to instill in visitors. The wonderful panoramic photographs and exuberant descriptions of Ballarat provided a fascinating insight into the way Ballarat’s leaders saw their city.
Letters of the Goldfields
For those living on the Ballarat goldfields, receiving a letter from home was an important event. In return, they regularly wrote to their families and friends to share the news of their successes and misfortunes. The examples of correspondence in this exhibition reveals a first-hand experience of the day to day concerns, hopes, dreams and realities of life in Ballarat in the 1850s and 60s. Copies of the original letters have been enlarged and are accompanied by completed transcripts.
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