Leisure

  • Ribbons for riders

    Ribbons for riders

    Several riders from Kyneton Pony Club attended the Maldon Horse Trials and Combined Training Day on Sunday. In the Open Grade 5 Horse Trials, Marigold Bickford placed second on her horse Fine Snips after a clear showjumping and cross country round. In the Pony Club Grade 4 Horse Trials, Savannah Jenner placed second on her…

  • Pulitzer Prize winning play

    Pulitzer Prize winning play

    The Mount Players’ second production for 2023, Buried Child written by Sam Shepard, was first presented in 1978 and won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for drama launching Shepard to national fame as a playwright. The play is an intense drama set in an old farmhouse, in mid-century Illinois. A macabre look at an American Midwestern…

  • WIN A DOUBLE PASS TO HISTORIC WINTON

    WIN A DOUBLE PASS TO HISTORIC WINTON

    The Midland Express has five double passes to give away to five lucky readers to attend the Historic Winton weekend on May 27 and 28. To go in the draw, email your entry to vhornbuckle@midnews.com.au by close of business on Tuesday May 9. Put the wording ‘Historic Winton draw’ in the email subject line and…

  • Orb spider inspires Bird

    Orb spider inspires Bird

    Angela CrawfordWatching the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II gave Castlemaine author Carmel Bird the inspiration for a short story in her latest collection of works. “I watched the funeral on television and I saw that on the bunch of flowers on her coffin there was a little green spider,” Bird told the Express. “It was…

  • Writers festival returns

    Writers festival returns

    The Bendigo Writers Festival returns with an impressive lineup on the first weekend of May to celebrate its 13th year. A diverse lineup of writers at this year’s event will include Tom Ballard (I, Millenial), Madelaine Lucas (Thirst for Salt), Melina Marchetta (Looking For Alibrandi), Pip Williams (The Bookbinder of Jericho), Peter Doherty (Empire, War,…

  • Discover the program

    Discover the program

    The 2023 Castlemaine Documentary Festival is fast approaching, scheduled for June 16 – 18. The full 2023 program will be launched tomorrow at 7.30pm at the Theatre Royal Castlemaine and celebrated with a screening of the gorgeous Australian film, Because We Have Each Other. This film by award-winning director Sari Braithwaite, who will be in…

  • Songs of pride

    Songs of pride

    This year’s Castlemaine Pride Festival is jam-packed with musical offerings to make your heart sing. Castlemaine Pride Choir – the festival’s very own choir-in-residence – will be headlining the picnic stage in the Botanic Gardens on April 29. Formed in 2021 as a musical and social group for LGBTQIA locals, the choir has become a…

  • Horse show set to return

    Horse show set to return

    The Castlemaine and District Agricultural Society’s Clydesdale Foal Filly and Mare Show will return to Castlemaine’s Camp Reserve on Sunday April 16. This will be combined with its Miniature Horse Pony and Shetlands Feature Show. Castlemaine and District Agricultural Society secretary Deb Hamilton said the society would celebrate its 169th anniversary this year and was…

  • Essays on Earth

    Essays on Earth

    The Castlemaine State Festival continues this week. Last Saturday, video installation Essays on Earth was unveiled at The Goods Shed. The multichannel video installation, which slowly unravels around the internal walls of The Goods Shed like a Japanese scroll, is built around Paul Kane’s sonorous reading of his epic poem on the themes of earth,…

  • Art under the microscope

    Art under the microscope

    Lisa DennisAs part of the Castlemaine Fringe Festival’s ‘Art Window Trail’, passionate local backyard composter Mikaela Beckley has created an art installation that celebrates microbes and the Yes in My Backyard community compost initiative. The artwork on ‘The Hub’ Building in Barker Street incorporates paper mache, recyclable materials and a video presentation and celebrates the…

  • Exciting new events for WWAF

    Exciting new events for WWAF

    The Woodend Winter Arts Festival returns this June, bringing with it a four-day program of world-class performances, thought-provoking discussions and exciting new events. Taking place over the King’s Birthday long weekend (June 9-12), the program will feature some of Australia’s leading classical musicians, alongside some of the country’s greatest literary minds. An exciting new addition…

  • Jazz Jam celebrates 10 years

    Jazz Jam celebrates 10 years

    Lisa DennisLocal musicians will gather to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Castlemaine Jazz Jam this Sunday. The jam is held on the first Sunday of the month at the Maurocco Bar in the Midland Hotel, opposite the Castlemaine Railway Station. The event began in May 2013 at the former Commercial ‘Comma’ Hotel Castlemaine. When that…