Spring School Holidays

Spring’s the season for adventure at Sovereign Hill — pan for gold, meet the animals, wander the streets, and share moments that turn into family stories.

Fun finds in every direction!

Think Sovereign Hill is all gold pans and bonnets? Think again.

With so much to see and do every day, there’s a whole town, and more, to explore.

This spring, meet the animals that call Sovereign Hill home, then see where the day takes you.

Head underground on a mine tour, strike it lucky on the diggings, knock down some pins in the bowling saloon, taste a Raspberry Drop (or few), explore the gold rush-era shops, and meet some colourful characters along the way.

All included in your ticket: 20+ experiences, free parking, daily indoor and outdoor activities, and kids under five enter free!

Check out some of the highlights from spring below.

Discovery Trail

Follow the animal clues and win!

Your mission is to discover why animals were so important on the Ballarat goldfields. Find the six wooden boxes for your chance to win. Collect your map and follow along Main Street and Speedwell Street to find the animal clues.

Time: 10am - 5pm

Included in your ticket

Arts and Crafts

Add a splash of colour to your day with fun, spring-inspired arts and crafts

Location: Carver & Dalton, map no. 21

Time: 11am-4pm

Included in your ticket

Animal Meet-and-Greet: Meet Farmer Pat

Meet Farmer Pat and a feathered or furry friend. Discover how animals helped shape life on the Ballarat goldfields. At the Donkey Paddock on Speedwell Street opposite the National School.

Location: Speedwell Street, map no near 75.

Time: 11.30am - 12pm

Included in your ticket

Meet the Medic

Worried about your health coming into the spring months? The doctors and nurses of the 1850s are here to advise you on the latest in modern medicine. Will they prescribe leeches, cow pats, or other curious cures?

Location: Apothecaries Hall, map no 33.

Time: 2pm-3pm

Included in your ticket

Costumed apothecary reenactor extending a welcoming hand inside a historic pharmacy, from Australia’s most visited outdoor museum and heritage attraction.

Medical Emergency in Speedwell Street

The Nightman has been woken up by a medical emergency. Follow him up to Speedwell Street to see if he can be of any help.

Location: Speedwell Street, map no. 74

Time: 3.15pm

Included in your ticket

Men talking

Victoria Theatre Presents

See the talented performers showcase their skills in the beautiful Victoria Theatre.

Location: Victoria Theatre (map no. 36)

Time: 12pm

Included in your ticket

Included in this ticket

Mother and daughter panning for gold in the creek at Sovereign Hill, with other visitors and costumed staff nearby.

Gold Panning

Included in ticketWill you uncover hidden treasure or leave empty-handed? There's only one way to know.

Man making candy

Confectionery Demonstration

Included in ticketSee our confectioners cook, stretch and shape delicious treats the old-fashioned way.

Wizard Jacobs Magic Show

Wizard Jacobs Magic Show

Included in ticketWizard Jacobs is bringing their Magic Show to the Victoria Theatre.

A wooden pirate ship playground with red slides is surrounded by children playing and adults supervising. The area has a blue safety surface, green grass, and tall trees under a partly cloudy sky. People walk along a dirt path in the foreground.

Play Space

Included in ticketShips, stagecoaches, and slides - discover a playground where imagination runs wild every day.

Red Coat Soldiers

Redcoat Soldiers

Included in ticketIf you hear drums, it's probably too late to hide.

Family playing old fashion bowling

Bowling

Included in ticketTake a break from chasing gold and test your aim in the bowling saloon.

Red Hill Mine

Red Hill Mine Tour

Included in ticketDescend into the mine and uncover the story behind one of history's biggest finds.

Woman writing on chalk board

Back to School

Included in ticketSchool's back, just not the way you remember.

Fire and gold

Gold Pour

Included in ticketWatch gold melt, glow, and pour. Then guess its value before someone beats you.

Blacksmithing Demonstration

Blacksmithing Demonstration

Included in ticketFeel the heat and discover the trade that helped build Ballarat from scratch.

Blocks

Printing Demonstration

Included in ticketGet your own WANTED poster, just like the outlaw you are.

People making wheels

Pull-a-part Wheel

Included in ticketDo you have what it takes to become a wheelwright?

Couple in candle making shop

Candle-making Demonstration

Included in ticketHow the goldfields got lit.

Goldfields butcher reenactor holding fresh meat outside a rustic wooden shop, from Australia’s most visited outdoor museum and heritage attraction.

Meet the Butcher

Included in ticketSome struck gold underground. Others found opportunity behind the butcher's block instead.

Costumed goldfields police reenactors patrolling with props during a heritage performance, from Australia’s most visited outdoor museum and heritage attraction.

Trooper Demonstration

Included in ticketMeet the crew who kept the peace ... or did they?

Gold panning in river

Diggings Tour

Included in ticketUncover the triumphs, troubles and mischief of goldfields life.

A man working with wood in a workshop, using tools and machinery to create wooden objects.

Wheel-making Demonstration

Included in ticketThe gold rush wouldn't have got very far without these. Meet the team who kept Ballarat moving.

A small red building with a sloped roof features Chinese architectural elements, including hanging red lanterns and decorative trim with Chinese characters. The entrance is framed by wooden railings, and greenery is visible in the foreground, giving the scene a peaceful, cultural ambiance.

Chinese Temple Tour

Included in ticketStep inside a recreated temple and discover faith, community and cultural traditions enduring far...

Costumed woman reenactor smiling outside goldfields soup and meals tent, from Australia’s most visited outdoor museum and heritage attraction.

Meet Polly the Sly Grog Seller

Included in ticketMeet the woman who turned prohibition into profit on the goldfields.

Sovereign Hill cottages

Speedwell Street Cottages

Included in ticketThe gold rush housing market wasn't easy either, just ask the residents.

Woman with explosives

Voltaic Battery Demonstration

Included in ticket

Machinery

Surface Machinery Tour

Included in ticket

Pill Rolling Demonstration

Pill Rolling Demonstration

Included in ticketGood news: the doctor has medicine. The bad news? It's the 1850s.

Quartz Rock Crushing Demonstration

Quartz Rock Crushing Demonstration

Included in ticketYou'll hear this machine before you see it. The quartz never stood a chance.

Orientation Tour

Orientation Tour

Included in ticketDiscover the stories, shortcuts, and hidden corners most visitors walk straight past.

Rustic, wooden structure, possibly a tent or hut, in an outdoor setting depicting the Chinese Protectorate Camps

Chinese Protectorate Camp Tour

Included in ticketGo beyond Main Street and dig deeper for stories about grit, gold, and determination.

Add on activities & events

Man taking family portrait

Photography Experience

Not included in ticketSwap selfies for sepia and discover who you might have been in 1854.

Family in horse-drawn carriage

Coach Ride

Not included in ticketExperience the Uber of the 1850s.

A young girl and a man dipping tools into bowls of colored substances in a workshop setting with wooden tables and equipment.

Candle Dipping

Not included in ticketOne dip is never enough. Neither is two. You've been warned.

Three people stand inside a dimly lit, wooden tunnel with blue lighting. A woman in historical attire gestures while speaking to an older woman and a man in modern clothing, both smiling and engaged, suggesting a guided historical tour or interactive experience.

Guided Mine Tours

Not included in ticketTurns out, digging deep holes beneath the earth came with a few risks.

AURA

AURA

Not included in ticketFrom a place you know comes a story you don’t — AURA explores the creation and lasting impact of ...

Three people are gathered around a wooden table, engaged in a hands-on activity. The person in the center, a woman with long dark hair, is using a mallet to work on a small object.

Makers Series

Not included in ticketGet hands-on and craft your own leather key ring.

Man taking family portrait

Photography Experience

Not included in ticketSwap selfies for sepia and discover who you might have been in 1854.

Family in horse-drawn carriage

Coach Ride

Not included in ticketExperience the Uber of the 1850s.

A young girl and a man dipping tools into bowls of colored substances in a workshop setting with wooden tables and equipment.

Candle Dipping

Not included in ticketOne dip is never enough. Neither is two. You've been warned.

Three people stand inside a dimly lit, wooden tunnel with blue lighting. A woman in historical attire gestures while speaking to an older woman and a man in modern clothing, both smiling and engaged, suggesting a guided historical tour or interactive experience.

Guided Mine Tours

Not included in ticketTurns out, digging deep holes beneath the earth came with a few risks.

AURA

AURA

Not included in ticketFrom a place you know comes a story you don’t — AURA explores the creation and lasting impact of ...

Three people are gathered around a wooden table, engaged in a hands-on activity. The person in the center, a woman with long dark hair, is using a mallet to work on a small object.

Makers Series

Not included in ticketGet hands-on and craft your own leather key ring.

Man taking family portrait

Photography Experience

Not included in ticketSwap selfies for sepia and discover who you might have been in 1854.

Family in horse-drawn carriage

Coach Ride

Not included in ticketExperience the Uber of the 1850s.

A young girl and a man dipping tools into bowls of colored substances in a workshop setting with wooden tables and equipment.

Candle Dipping

Not included in ticketOne dip is never enough. Neither is two. You've been warned.

Three people stand inside a dimly lit, wooden tunnel with blue lighting. A woman in historical attire gestures while speaking to an older woman and a man in modern clothing, both smiling and engaged, suggesting a guided historical tour or interactive experience.

Guided Mine Tours

Not included in ticketTurns out, digging deep holes beneath the earth came with a few risks.

AURA

AURA

Not included in ticketFrom a place you know comes a story you don’t — AURA explores the creation and lasting impact of ...

Three people are gathered around a wooden table, engaged in a hands-on activity. The person in the center, a woman with long dark hair, is using a mallet to work on a small object.

Makers Series

Not included in ticketGet hands-on and craft your own leather key ring.

Man taking family portrait

Photography Experience

Not included in ticketSwap selfies for sepia and discover who you might have been in 1854.

Family in horse-drawn carriage

Coach Ride

Not included in ticketExperience the Uber of the 1850s.

A young girl and a man dipping tools into bowls of colored substances in a workshop setting with wooden tables and equipment.

Candle Dipping

Not included in ticketOne dip is never enough. Neither is two. You've been warned.

Three people stand inside a dimly lit, wooden tunnel with blue lighting. A woman in historical attire gestures while speaking to an older woman and a man in modern clothing, both smiling and engaged, suggesting a guided historical tour or interactive experience.

Guided Mine Tours

Not included in ticketTurns out, digging deep holes beneath the earth came with a few risks.

AURA

AURA

Not included in ticketFrom a place you know comes a story you don’t — AURA explores the creation and lasting impact of ...

Three people are gathered around a wooden table, engaged in a hands-on activity. The person in the center, a woman with long dark hair, is using a mallet to work on a small object.

Makers Series

Not included in ticketGet hands-on and craft your own leather key ring.

Help support Sovereign Hill

By supporting Sovereign Hill, you help preserve a place where history is lived, not just told. Every contribution helps us care for our heritage site and continue the important work we do in conservation, education and storytelling.