The Daylesford Foundation celebrated its eighth birthday last month following its biggest year of local giving to date. In the 2025–26 financial year, the foundation distributed more than $320,000 to young people and families across Hepburn Shire, taking its total since 2018 to over $1.2 million across 10,000 instances of support. It is a long […]

Well, here I am again penning another article for you, the reader, to enjoy…   This time I’ll be taking you on a discovery tour of cultivated plants with links to Gondwanaland – once a supercontinent over 500 million years ago that eventually drifted apart to form Africa, India, Southern America, Antarctica, South Western Pacific […]

Making with clay is part of the human story from ancient times. But it doesn’t live in history. Ceramic practice is continuous in every culture all over the world. And it’s thriving in Australia right now. More people are taking pottery classes, restaurants are using locally made tableware, galleries are showing ceramic art and artists’ […]

The 75th Daylesford Highland Gathering comes to an end on Saturday, December 5 with the reinstatement of the traditional Scottish Ceilidh to be held at the Daylesford Town Hall.     Cathy & Catie Strings Ceilidh Band and their caller will head the night with Scottish folk music while guiding everyone through all the moves […]

The Daylesford Agricultural Show, held at Victoria Park on Saturday, November 28, is more than a showcase of prize-winning livestock, horsemanship, fresh produce, crafts, art and photography. It is a celebration of the people, creativity and community spirit that make the region unique. Under the shade sail beside the Hall of Flowers, visitors can enjoy […]

All writing genres accepted, including short story, memoir and poetry. The winners and shortlist will be published in The Best of the Davy Writers Prize 2027. Prize money and book vouchers also awarded. NOW OPEN FOR ENTRIES! CATEGORIES Open (18 years and older): 1,800 words or less Teens (Years 9 – 12): 1,500 words or […]

Acclaimed guitarists the Grigoryan Brothers return to Daylesford, after a 13-year absence, for an intimate concert of music drawn from their vast back catalogue. Much has happened in the ensuing 13 years: numerous awards, national and international tours, performances with symphony orchestras, a collaboration with the National Museum of Australia, writing music for film and […]

Mark Roy is a member of the Central Highlands Pickleball Club which runs sessions on a Saturday between 3pm and 5pm at the ARC in Daylesford. The club is based in Ballarat but also runs games in Clunes and Daylesford. Mark said his pickleball journey started two years ago when he saw a post on […]

Wendy Vorstenbosch first called her pickleball group Hit and Giggle, as you do, but it has been renamed All together Pickleball Ballarat and Surrounds covering Daylesford, Castlemaine, Clunes, Maryborough and Buninyong – with help from her son Brett. “We say come for the fun, come for the laughs, come and make some new friends. We’re […]

On Remembrance Day the young ones will be marching, not in the marches you are thinking of, and I’m firmly in the no-march camp for that day.   It’s a day of remembrance for our diggers, ironically the same diggers who won us the freedoms we enjoy in the first place. That said, I don’t […]

m o o n l i g h t i n g   the moon aglow its fullness tosses and turns my body this luminous visitation grasps at my edges drags at my psyche dawn leaves me wanting and uncertain distant sphere nests softer somehow offstage dimmed by daylight a faceless orb I could shuck […]

By Donna Kelly It’s all a bit odd.   Hepburn Shire Council proudly takes part in the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence from November 25 to December 10. The campaign encourages all Victorians to work together to prevent violence against women with more than one in three women experiencing men’s violence. That […]