You’re Invited – Festival Finale Celebration!

FREE Public Event - You're Invited to the Opening of the 2025 Benalla Heritage Festival!

Explore the ongoing impacts and effects of colonisation and industrialisation through different lenses on the banks of the Birrarung (Yarra River) at Polly Woodside.

A guided walking tour of key sites on the Broken River that reveal the history of Aboriginal society and the period of armed conflict following colonisation.

Join Djaara Elder Uncle Rick Nelson on Country for a guided tour of sites he has specifically chosen as significant in the Castlemaine and surrounds areas. His tours offer a unique opportunity to connect with the land and the living culture of Dja Dja Wurrung people.

Want to learn more about Australia's past, from 65,000 years ago to today? National Archaeology Week is hosting an exciting nationwide program of events. Come and meet archaeologists, First Nations people and heritage practitioners, join archaeological digs and tours, enjoy special talks - and more!

TENYA, meaning "Us" in Anaiwan, explores Anaiwan cultural revitalisation through walking as practice. This exhibition is an immersive sound and video work of scale in the Substation’s main space. TENYA by Gabi Briggs is presented by The Substation, Liquid Architecture in association with YIRRAMBOI

Invite your imagination on a trip back in time and share in the magic of storytelling.

Join Uncle Rick for this unique tour out on Djaara Country in the Castlemaine region where you will visit significant trees and sites that Uncle Rick has specifically selected. A Welcome To Country and Smoking Ceremony is part of this tour as a cleansing to ensure you walk with good spirit.

The Alchemy of Gold is a special forum which brings together experts, historians and the community to explore how the discovery of gold in Victoria in the 1850s reshaped the state.

Culture Through Learning at Nairm Marr Djambana: where tradition meets education. Be guided around the beautiful gardens of Nairm Marr Djambana and learn about native plants and First Nations traditions.

Step into the future of heritage at this fast-paced forum, featuring short presentations from local experts about the new tech preserving Bendigo’s heritage, the historic tech that shaped the city, and the exciting addition of the Victorian Goldfields to Australia’s World Heritage Tentative List.

Keedan Rigney’s exhibition Healthy Country, Healthy People explores the concept of adopting a more traditional approach in caring for Country. Healthy Country, Healthy People aims to challenge humans to acknowledge ourselves as a harmonious aspect of Country.

The atmospheric Anderson's Mill comes alive with displays of heritage crafts, machinery and historical exhibitions whilst the heritage iron waterwheel turns majestically transporting all who see it back to the days when the bluestone mill machinery ran quietly and used the creek as its power source.