Eureka Centre Ballarat

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Eureka Centre is a museum at the site of the 1854 Eureka Stockade and home to the Eureka Flag. Welcome to the Eureka Centre Ballarat’s page.
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03/06/2026

Join author Lucy Suss*x today at 5:30pm for her talk, 'Outrageous Fortunes: Writer Mary Fortune and her criminal son'.

Hear the gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer, Mary Fortune, and her career-criminal son, George. Under male pseudonyms, Mary wrote poetry, fiction and chronicled life on the goldfields, including Buninyong. When she died, she was largely forgotten, but dedicated research has unearthed her extraordinary life.

Lucy Suss*x has worked as a librarian, researcher, academic, and newspaper columnist. In 2025, she and Megan Brown published ‘Outrageous Fortunes’, a biography of Mary Fortune, and ‘Nothing But Murders and Bloodshed and Hangings’, a collection of Mary Fortune’s detective fiction.

Click here to share the event with your friends: https://www.facebook.com/share/1dbCbJMQ5Y/

Image: Freddie Baer (designer), ‘Outrageous Fortunes’ cover image, 2025 [detail], collage. Image provided by Lucy Suss*x and reproduced with permission.

City of Ballarat Ballarat In The Know Ballarat Writers Ballarat Historical Society U3A Ballarat

02/06/2026

Ballarat is in the running to be named Victoria's 2026 Top Tourism Town and we need your help to nab the crown!

Vote for Ballarat at https://bit.ly/4wXE5Ns for your chance to win a luxurious Melbourne escape for two.

And make sure you also vote for our Pyrenees neighbour Avoca, which is chasing the title of Top Tiny Tourism Town.

Voting closes Friday 26 June at 5pm.

27/05/2026

Every week, we’re asked: when will the café at the Eureka Centre reopen? We’re delighted to say - very soon.

📅 Opening day is Tuesday 9 June 2026 from 10am.

Rebellion Café will be operated by Ballarat hospitality couple Jamie and Tracey Mahony, well known for InExterior Café and their popular catering services.

With around 55,000 visitors a year, the café plays a vital role in the Eureka Centre experience. We’re excited to partner with Jamie and Tracey to re-establish the cafe as a welcoming and vibrant community meeting place.

☕ Rebellion Café will be open seven days a week from 10am to 5pm.

Visit their webpage for menus and more information👉 https://www.rebellioncafe.com.au

19/05/2026

SOLD OUT - JOIN THE WAITLIST

Here's a message from local legend Hap Hayward about an expansive appreciation of Australian music that will kick of the Ballarat Heritage Festival.

Hap Hayward, Freya Josephine Hollick and Phil and Trudy Edgeley will perform in 'Unsung: Reimagining Folk Songs from the Victorian Goldfields' this Thursday at 6pm.

The event is now sold out, but click on this link to join the waitlist: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/unsung-reimagining-folksongs-from-the-victorian-goldfields-tickets-1983929901742

Through a contemporary lens, Hap Hayward, Freya Josephine Hollick, and Phil and Trudy Edgeley will revisit and reimagine unsung folk gems in a rollicking in-the-round performance. After each song, Hap will guide a relaxed conversation delving into the stories behind the songs. To complete the evening, each performer will present an original song drawing on folk storytelling themes of hope, hardship and the rebel spirit.

City of Ballarat Ballarat Heritage Festival Ballarat In The Know Phil and Trudy Edgeley Freya Josephine Hollick Kank Wolverang Records The Blue Lighters Creative City Ballarat

12/05/2026

Expressions of Interest are now open for membership of the City of Ballarat’s Arts & Cultural Advisory Committee. The purpose of the Committee is to act as a communicative forum between the City of Ballarat officers and members appointed to the group, and to provide information, advice and recommendations to Council.

If you are interested in being considered, submit an EOI by 11 June 2026 (Midnight AEST). Click on this link for more information and to apply: https://www.creativeballarat.com.au/advisorycommittee

This is an excellent opportunity to support and contribute to the ongoing development of Ballarat's creative community, whose impact has long been and continues to be reflected in the Eureka Centre's programming. Here are some photos celebrating some of the artists featured in our program in recent years.

City of Ballarat Creative City Ballarat

07/05/2026

We were fascinated to encounter this Eureka Stockade-inspired immersive installation by Ballarat artists, Jordy Bos, Jessica Larm and Kerith Holmes at the Ballarat Mining Exchange. Titled 'Under the Stars', the installation is described as 'a space to pause, reflect and consider how unity is formed and democracy is held, shared and sustained'.

Created from paper, textile and metal, 'Under the Stars' forms a suspended canopy of stars that audiences can move through and experience. The work reflects on ancestral journeys from the northern stars to the southern sky and explores multicultural histories connected to the Ballarat goldfields, the Eureka Rebellion and the creation of the Eureka Flag. It also considers untold stories, including the labour of women and the ongoing fragility of democracy. Presented at the Ballarat Mining Exchange for Ballarat Craft and Design Week, the exhibition closes on Sunday 10 May.

On Sunday 10 May from 12pm to 1pm, join the artists for a conversation titled 'Crafting Democracy' at the Mining Exchange. They will reflect on their collaborative process in developing 'Under the Stars, and its themes of migration, shared histories, and the fragility of democracy.

Ballarat Craft and Design Week will bring the city alive with more than 20 community‑led events, including exhibitions, workshops, talks, open studios and public installations across the Mining Exchange and beyond. Click on this link for full program details: https://www.creativeballarat.com.au/bcdw26

City of Ballarat Creative City Ballarat Ballarat In The Know

05/05/2026

Internationally respected oral history expert Professor Alistair Thomson joins us at the Eureka Centre this Thursday 7 May at 5.30pm. Alistair will share how oral history interviews can add colour and nuance to the writing of your family history to illuminate a more complex representation of the life and times of your forebears.

To find out more about Alistair and his work, click on this video: https://www.monash.edu/arts/philosophical-historical-indigenous-studies/australian-generations/publications/a-new-type-of-oral-history-book Here Alistair introduces ‘Australian Lives: An Intimate History’, a unique e-book containing the recorded personal stories of 50 people born between 1920 and 1989.

Alistair Thomson is Emeritus Professor of History at Monash University and was previously Professor of Oral History at the University of Suss*x, England. He is the author of numerous books including, ‘Australian Lives: An Intimate History’ (with Anisa Puri), and ‘Fathering: An Australian History’ (with John Murphy, Kate Murphy and Johnny Bell).

City of Ballarat Monash University Ballarat In The Know Ballarat Historical Society Ballarat & District Genealogical Society Inc Ballarat Libraries Public Record Office Victoria U3A Ballarat Oral History Australia

25/04/2026

The latest issue of 'Circa: The Journal of Professional Historians' is out now, and we are pleased to see the Eureka Centre represented through an essay by historian Dr Elizabeth Offer.

Last year, we engaged Elizabeth to update 18 didactic panels at the Eureka Centre. In this essay, she outlines the process she used in researching and writing interpretative content that acknowledges the complexities and contested narratives of the Eureka Stockade. This includes giving voice to lesser-known narratives that represent the diversity of the goldfields community, and bringing nuance to the stories of key protagonists that have historically been interpreted through the polarity of heroes and villains.

Click on this link to read the latest edition of 'Circa' online. Elizabeth’s essay. 'Striking Gold in Contested Ground: Writing on the Eureka Rebellion for Public Audiences' is on page 112:https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5907e06237c581f99cdcd17c/t/69ce2e1c73506d300f49465c/1775119900633/CIRCA-2026-ISSUE-9-UPDATE.pdf

24/04/2026

Lest We Forget 🌺

Eureka Centre Ballarat is open from 10am to 5pm today on ANZAC Day.

Address

102 Stawell Street South
Ballarat, VIC
3350

Telephone

+61353330333

Website

https://www.eurekacentreballarat.com.au/

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