Gold Museum, Ballarat ~ Showcasing Ballarat's history

Join us for our biggest summer ever!

The gold rush is happening all over again this summer as part of our Sovereign Hill school holiday program.

This summer, Sovereign Hill is busier than it’s been since the 1850s gold rush. With NEW activities every day and the chance to win a $400 gold nugget every week, it feels like the gold rush is happening all over again.

Each day of the week, for six weeks, a different adventure awaits. View the full program here

Easter School Holiday Program, 1 April – 17 April 2017

Join the fun and games during the Easter school holidays with our program of activities.

Choose Your Own Adventure

Are you a swash-buckling pirate or an adventurous explorer? Choose your own self-guided walk of the Gold Museum and discover the hidden treasures within! Available all day.

Postcard Station

Colour and send a postcard to your family and friends. Available all day.

Doctor Blake’s Ballarat exhibition

Get up close to the props, costumes, photography, and set sketches that bring The Doctor Blake Mysteries to life, and see the historic Ballarat locations featured in the show. Opens April 11, 2017. More information here

Golden Treasures Tour

Take a guided tour of the Gold Museum and hear the fascinating stories behind our collection objects. Available at 4.30pm.

More information here about ticket prices and opening times.

Program offered as part of Sovereign Hill’s The Story Lives On program.

March along with the Redcoats this summer.

We’re celebrating our brand new Redcoat uniforms with fun activities during our summer school holiday program.

The Redcoats Trail

Take a self-guided tour of the Gold Museum, following the story of the Redcoat soldiers. Answer the questions and claim a reward – a chocolate gold coin! Available 3.00pm-4.00pm

Golden Treasures Tour

Join one of our expert guides to hear the fascinating stories behind our objects on display. Available 4.30pm-5.00pm

Postcard Station

Colour and send a postcard to your friends and family. Available 9.30am-6.00pm

House of Lucas exhibition

Step in side the stylish world of Lucas & Co., a clothing firm which operated in Ballarat from the 1880s to the 1970s. Don’t forget to take a photo with our fab Lucas models in the foyer!

Program runs from December 26, 2016 to January 29, 2017.

Replica Redcoat uniforms on display at the Gold Museum.

Erin Santamaria working on a replica Redcoat uniform, 2016.

As part of our summer school holiday program, we have three replica Redcoat uniforms on display in our Gold Pavilion gallery. These replica uniforms were produced by the Sovereign Hill Costume Department.

Sovereign Hill’s 40^th Regiment of Foot (the Redcoats) are one of the highlights of Sovereign Hill’s program. They are also the face of Sovereign Hill at high profile public events in Melbourne and Ballarat.

The replica 1850s military uniforms worn by the Redcoats were last replaced in the 1990s and were in dire need of replacement.

After an extensive fundraising campaign and an intensive research and manufacturing project headed by the Costume Department, the new uniforms are now ready for our visitors to enjoy and our staff to wear with pride.

The research and making of the new uniforms has involved a global search for suitable fabrics and materials.

Where possible, the exact garment construction methods from the 1850s have been reproduced with certain elements of the uniforms made at Sovereign Hill by our own craftsmen, showcasing some of the historical trades and skills nurtured and kept alive by Sovereign Hill.

The replica uniforms will be on display at the Gold Museum until January 29, 2017.

Written by Erin Santamaria, manager of Sovereign Hill’s Costume Department

Follow the Great Bike Trail and win a gold chocolate medal!

We are celebrating summer and our new cycling exhibitions by inviting kids and families to participate in our Great Bike Trail activity.

Five cyclists outside Loveland Bros bicycle store, North Ballarat, 1900 (Courtesy of Museum Victoria)

Explore our cycling exhibitions, Freewheeling and On Your Bike!, and answer questions from our Great Bike Trail booklet along the way. Get a gold chocolate medal when you’ve answered all the questions.

Booklets, pens and chocolates can be collected from the Gold Museum Information Desk located in the entrance foyer.

The Great Bike Trail will run everyday between 3pm and 4pm from December 26, 2015 to January 26, 2016.

Written by Snjez Cosic, Gold Museum Curator