Leisure
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Woodend Haiku Festival is here
Pop-up haiku poets, haiku readings and workshops will be celebrated at the Woodend Haiku Festival to be held throughout April. Local poet and festival director, Myron Lysenko, is a representative of the Australian Haiku Society and has organised a range of activities to celebrate all things haiku, coinciding with International Haiku Day on April 17.…
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Piano project hits right note
Pianos began appearing across Castlemaine and surrounds late last week as the Maine Guerilla Pianos launched their 2025 Castlemaine Fringe Festival project. The local group is putting the spotlight on pianos and the fun of playing and listening throughout the Fringe (March 22-April 6) and is encouraging community members to jump on a piano and…
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CAM’s first blockbuster
In a blockbuster first for Castlemaine, an exhibition spanning the 50-year career of the well-known and much-loved artist ‘Sir’ Leslie Thornton will open at Castlemaine Art Museum this Saturday. The exhibition, which fittingly coincides with the launch of Castlemaine’s 2025 Fringe Festival, features paintings, drawings and sculptures that celebrate the artist’s whimsical and playful Australian-centric…
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Fringe fiesta!
The 2025 Castlemaine Fringe Festival gets under way this Saturday with a free ‘Opening Night Street Party Spectacular’. The event will kick off at 4pm with youth presentations in Mechanics Lane, and then continue until late with three stages in the Castlemaine Town Hall precinct featuring 150+ performers, dance acts, live art painting, projections, DJs…
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Firecracker poems to feature
PoetiCas’s monthly poetry gatherings in Castlemaine have become a cherished part of the community since 2015. For Castlemaine Fringe, local identities will bring us their chosen poems for an afternoon of ‘Firecracker Poems’ at the Northern Arts Hotel this Saturday March 22. Who met Seamus Heaney in Ireland – and will she read one of…
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Poets and storytellers on show
WORDSPOKEN is a local tradition in the making. The event series, which will return from a summer hiatus as part of the Castlemaine Fringe program, showcases local poets, musicians and storytellers in the shell of the old Melbourne tram at Lot19. WORDSPOKEN draws on this thread, providing a space for experimental and experiential artistic expression,…
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It’s better to read blind
Two bouts of sensory deprivation led Jahne Hope-Williams to pursue a life of spiritual practice. Jahne was born in England and spent the first years of her life living behind a Harrods’ department store. It was a troubled start to life; she was blind. The doctors could do nothing and on a whim, after advice…
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Find the perfect gift
Castlemaine Artists Market is lighting up the centre of town on Sunday March 23. Fossick through more than 50 stalls of fabulous, handmade artwork, and find the perfect gift for someone special. Enjoy delicious food and drink as well as live music on the grass. This month Castlemaine Artists Market welcomes back Ced le Meledo,…
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St Patrick’s day is here!
Guinness, bagpipes and Irish dance will be part of St Patrick’s Day celebrations to be held on March 16 at Trentham East. The Sunday event kicks off at 11am at Sacred Heart Church, where attendees will hear stories from local Irish residents before setting off on an annual march, led by bagpipes, to the Pig…
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Afternoon tea in an autumn garden
On Saturday March 22, Coliban Springs will open its tranquil five-acre garden oasis to aid The Sisterhood Project, a charity making lifesaving skills accessible to everyone. The organisation’s founder Grace Larson lives locally in Mia Mia and was the 2024 Victorian winner of the Agrifutures Rural Woman of the Year award and runner up for…
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Big turnout expected for Taradale Festival
Now in its 16th year, the Taradale Mineral Springs Festival is set to return this Sunday March 9. Awarded Mount Alexander Shire Community Event of the Year in 2024, the long-running festival is a major feature on the Central Victorian calendar for the Labour Day long weekend. The Mineral Springs Festival Committee is planning to…
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Harcourt Applefest is on the move
Since its inception in 1991, the Harcourt Applefest has gone from strength to strength and is now bursting at the seams! Consequently, this year’s festival organisers have decided to relocate the iconic festival and art show from its original home at James Park and the Harcourt Heritage Centre to the Harcourt Recreation Reserve. Kicking off…