Castlemaine

  • Mapping waterways and connections

    Mapping waterways and connections

    Artist Kathy Landvogt is fascinated by rivers – specifically the immense Loddon River and the system that connects her town, Castlemaine on Barkers Creek, with tributaries upstream and downstream. When she saw an old CFA map, and with her interest in women’s traditional handcrafts, she began to think about how to celebrate the river’s significance…

  • An invitation to recalibrate

    An invitation to recalibrate

    Anyone in the vicinity of the Phee Broadway Theatre last Friday would have been witness to a constant stream of middle-aged women steadily making their way into the library foyer in a manner somewhat reminiscent of a clandestine suffragette meeting (perhaps the women of Castlemaine are ready for their own uprising?). The meeting was, in…

  • Measuring our compost ingredients

    Measuring our compost ingredients

    When we first learn to cook, a recipe is our lifeboat, and we follow it to the letter. As we begin to trust our intuition, we need the recipe less and less, substituting an ingredient here, estimating a measure there, cooking more by feel than by the absolutes of cups or grams. Even when we…

  • New store to deliver big savings

    New store to deliver big savings

    Just three months after the opening of Castlemaine’s new Woolworths supermarket, the town is set to see the opening of another major retail outlet. Castlemaine’s new Reject Shop will open its doors this Thursday morning, September 11. Local residents have been keenly watching the development of the new store at 112-116 Barker Street in recent…

  • Barry’s bus fulfills final wish

    Barry’s bus fulfills final wish

    Barry Lacey was one of those indescribably special people who leaves a mark on you. In the last few months of his life, Barry gave one last gift to those left behind – a transport bus for the aged care residents at Dhelkaya Health. Barry and his wife, Jenny, relocated from Melbourne to Newstead in…

  • Santa’s helpers fashion new bells

    Santa’s helpers fashion new bells

    Billmans Foundry in Castlemaine has teamed up with a number of talented local tradespeople to craft a set of five new Christmas bells for the former Apex Club of Castlemaine’s annual Santa Run. The beloved event is a longstanding tradition in Mount Alexander Shire and celebrates its 88th anniversary on Christmas Day 2025. Former Apex…

  • Underground dance-off electric!

    Underground dance-off electric!

    Hot Moves No Pressure is an invite-only, underground-style dance battle, where each performer can invite one guest only, making it the hottest ticket in town! The energy at Boomtown Winery last Saturday night for the Castlemaine dance-off was electric! (In fact, the moves were so hot that the power blew halfway through the performances…) A…

  • Cold case breakthrough in Castlemaine woman’s death

    Cold case breakthrough in Castlemaine woman’s death

    Homicide Squad detectives have charged a man in relation to the death of Castlemaine woman and mother of two, Samantha Mizzi, in St Kilda 31 years ago. Colin George McKane, 67, was arrested in Ararat early Thursday. He has been charged with murder and two counts of rape and appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court late…

  • The Invisible Architecture of Compassion

    The Invisible Architecture of Compassion

    The violinist sits focused on some unseen inner realm. Intuitively he lets forth a myriad of notes from the stretched gut strings on the electric baroque violin, evoking sounds not heard since before the industrial revolution. As the notes bounce and find rest around the walls, our attention is drawn to the other-worldly sounds of…

  • Wear it purple with craftivism

    Wear it purple with craftivism

    Dhelkaya Health is calling on community members to grab their knitting needles and crochet hooks to help create a powerful display for Wear It Purple Day 2025. This national day celebrates safe, supportive and inclusive spaces for young LGBTIQA+ people, and this year Dhelkaya Health plans to yarn bomb four trees across the region in…

  • Exploring life and possibility

    Exploring life and possibility

    Local writer, author and director Madeleine Ryan launched her long-awaited second book The Knowing earlier this year and Northern Books is celebrating its release with a special event at Grafting Cellars in Castlemaine this Thursday. Ryan’s articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, SBS, Vogue, The Daily Telegraph, The Sydney Morning Herald,…

  • Delve into Buddhism

    Delve into Buddhism

    The August Good Grief Lounge at Northern Arts Hotel Castlemaine will be held on Friday August 8 to coincide with ‘Dying to Know Day 2025’. The montly Lounge is facilitated by Jill Rivers of Good Grief – Art-full Living. Jill said the August event would celebrate this dedicated day focused on encouraging open conversations about…