With a plethora of beautiful heritage venues promising great food and wine, warm fireplaces and a variety of art and cultural offerings, Victoria’s reigning Top Tourism Town is an especially great place to visit now the days are shorter and temperatures are heading south.
Winter 2025, though, has even more to entice you with a range of arts and cultural activities to keep you entertained and enlightened throughout the season.
Bendigo Art Gallery has long been a destination institution for art connoisseurs and the general public alike, with blockbuster exhibitions like Elvis: Direct from Graceland in 2022 and Paris: Impressions of Life last year. This year, the crowds have been flocking to Frida Kahlo: In her own image, described by ArtsHub’s reviewer as ‘fascinating, intelligent and carefully curated’ in a 4.5-star review.
“It’s an Australian exclusive exhibition that’s been curated from the Museo Frida Kahlo, and many of the objects haven’t been on display before outside of Mexico. So, it’s a real coup for not just Bendigo, but for Victoria and Australia to have this exhibition,” says Glenn Harvey, the Destination and Experience Manager for the City of Greater Bendigo.
“The exhibition is a really personal focus on Frida Kahlo and her life. It covers a whole range of different things like her photography, her clothing and styling, her self-portraits, of course, and personal mementos.”
You still have time to see for yourself, with the exhibition running until 13 July.
Concurrently, the city has curated a campaign with its tourist industry called Fiesta Bendigo, with over 90 Frida and/or Mexican experiences, including the hugely popular Taco Trail, with more than 20 businesses creating their own signature tacos, with the public getting to vote for their favourite.
Dame Nellie Melba’s keys
But it’s not all about Mexico’s favourite artistic export. New for winter 2025 is Keys of Gold, a brand-new festival that sees chamber music being performed across the region in a whole range of different venues, from tiny chapels to Bendigo’s glorious Sacred Heart Cathedral.
“There will be 11 venues, 27 instruments and 45 world-class performances,” explains Harvey. “You will have the whole spectrum of something that’s really intimate, right up to something very grand.”
One of the 11 venues, Lauriston Chapel at Langley Estate, will host the launch concert on Friday 4 July with a very special element for those attending. Organist Thomas Heywood will be playing a beautifully restored and newly installed 1875 George ‘Grandfather’ Fincham pipe organ. But it’s not just any old pipe organ; this one was originally commissioned for a Kew mansion where it was used by a young Dame Nellie Melba, no less, during her organ lessons.
With chamber music warming the cockles inside Bendigo’s historic and heritage buildings, outside Electric Wonderland is returning for its fourth year. Based at Rosalind Park in the centre of the city, the event runs over the school holidays from 4 to 20 July. “It is exactly what it says!” explains Harvey. “It’s a feast for the eyes and senses with things like lasers and illuminated objects and very tactile experiences that particularly families would love.”
He continues: “One of the favourites that is returning is a towering 40-metre replica of the iconic Sacred Heart Cathedral, made out of lights. You can’t miss it. It’s quite imposing and such a great spot to take photos.”
But these three events are just scratching the surface of what Bendigo has to offer over the winter months. There’s also Bendigo Writers Festival (15-17 August, tickets on sale now), the Australian Sheep and Wool Show (18-20 July) and Bendigo On the Hop, the city’s incredibly popular beer festival, that sells out quickly. And remember if you do fancy a day travelling around the centre of the city tasting a range of craft beers, why not take the train? If you’re using a Myki card, the fares are so inexpensive they’re practically paying you to visit!
To learn about all of these arts and cultural attractions and more visit the Bendigo Tourism website.
