Forget body obsession
Adapted from the 2016 Disney version, Moana is a highly popular musical adventure film. The super-heroic Moana sets out on a mission to the Oceanic seas to save her people.
It has won praise for promoting diversity and rejecting the trappings of romance, as well as having a fine message for young girls in an age often obsessed with body image and glamour. (August 10, 4.30pm, August 15-16, 11am & August 17, 4.30.)
Robert De Niro is unforgettable in Taxi Driver (August 10, 7pm) as we watch him descend from painful to nerve-wracking to pitiful. Portraits of urban malaise are never darker, bleaker, or more claustrophobic than here.
The Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (August 13, 4.30pm, August 15 & 17, 2pm) is a psychological, black-humoured satire on corruption in office, which seems just what’s needed these days. A top cop kills his mistress and then tests whether he will be charged.
Backrooms (August 13 & 17, 7pm) bends the spaces that haunted the internet for years, into horror film as mesmerising as it is terrifying.
The classic satire The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie is Luis Bunuel’s dissection of a sextet coming to dine but never eating as reality and illusion interject themselves. (August 14 & 15, 4.30pm.)
Tuner is based on a terrific idea. A skilled piano tuner finds a well-paid side gig in cracking safes. Smart humour, critics say, plus vivid characterisations. (August 14 & 15, 7pm).
As a distinct change of pace Klute is unconventional, being both a detective thriller and a character-driven mood piece. It helped cement Alan J. Pakula’s place as one of the great directors of the 1970s, or any decade, and won an Oscar for Jane Fonda (August 16, 4.30pm).
Coming up for five screenings, starting August 17 is the hugely well received Spider-Man: Brand New Day. That week also features the ever-popular Annie Hall, The Long Goodbye, Blazing Saddles and Harold and Maude.
Link: www.daylesfordcinema.org.au (All times correct at publication.)

Well here I am again penning another article for you, the reader, to enjoy…

This time I’ll be featuring somewhat unusual ornamental fruiting trees and shrubs for the garden.
So let’s start (in alphabetical order) with one of my favourite maples:

1. Acer fabri (Faber’s maple) is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to central and southern China and Vietnam that produces masses of burgundy coloured fruits known as samaras around December. This photograph was taken at the Bogle Arboretum in Hoddles Creek.

2. Aucuba japonica ‘picturata’ (spotted laurel) grows as a medium-sized evergreen shrub of garden origin that can reach 1.8m with similar width and is prized for its variegated foliage and stunning glossy red fruits that ripen in autumn. This image was taken in a courtyard garden at the Empress Hotel, Victoria on Vancouver Island, Canada.

3. Dodonaea viscosa (broad-leaf hopbush) is a tallish evergreen shrub growing to 3m that is native to Africa, the Americas, southern Asia and Australasia that can be covered in winged papery capsules ripening from October through to January. This image was taken in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens.

4. Magnolia grandiflora (southern magnolia), hailing from southeastern USA, is a well-known large evergreen tree that, through maturity, can grow to 15m with a similar width. Mostly grown for its amazing highly scented large creamy white flowers, I have included it here for its orange “Smartie” like seeds that pop out from the fruiting body. This image was taken in our home garden in Hepburn.

5. Tasmannia lanceolata (mountain pepperbush), an Australian native from southeast New South Wales, eastern Victoria and Tasmania, is an evergreen variable- sized shrub from around 2m to 7m high with distinct leathery leaves that when chewed yield an initial mild taste followed by a slow, hot, peppery kick favoured by bushwalkers. This species is dioecious meaning there are both female and male plants so be careful when choosing your stock if you want to get the bold reddish-purple berries that were once used as a pepper substitute. Only the female will produce the berries and so the label at the nursery of purchase should indicate this. This image was taken in a nursery in Daylesford.

So there you have it…five quite different taxa that can add colour and horticultural interest to the home garden.

Cheers John Beetham (trading as Trees in Australia 0418 375 708)

Next time: The World of Conifers.

Scan the QR code to see JB’s Instagram post…

Do you have a gardening question for John? He is happy to answer them whether they are about trees, shrubs, the best time to plant, the best time to trim back… Email news@tlnews.com.au and we’ll make sure he gets them.

What a rollercoaster for councillors, council staff and ratepayers.
Last week five of Hepburn Shire’s councillors – Don Henderson, Tony Clark, Shirley Cornish, Pat Hockey and Lesley Hewitt – and former CEO Bradley Thomas were cleared of all criminal charges brought against them by shire resident David Penman.
Apparently, the Director of Public Prosecutions attended the hearing of private criminal matters against the six and the DPP then took the matters over and the charges were dismissed due to insufficient grounds to proceed with the prosecutions.
The councillors have now been reinstated which a council media release said was “a great outcome for democracy and our community”.
Wow. I have covered quite a few councils in my time, Frankston was memorable, but nothing like this. It was hard to keep up.
It all started back in March when Cr Don Henderson and former CEO Bradley Thomas had charges raised against them – to do with the improper handling of emails. So Cr Henderson was stood down while Mr Thomas was able to keep working.
Then a few months later, it was time for Mayor Cr Tony Clark to be stood down, shortly followed by the other four councillors after they voted for the 2026 Shire Budget.
Councillors Brian Hood and Tim Drylie were the last two standing, and were the two who voted against the budget going through.
So there was no longer a quorum and the July council meeting was cancelled – although council staff were still doing their best to keep the wheels turning.
And then Mr Thomas, who had resigned, moved on and Janet Dore was brought in as an interim CEO. There was talk of an administrator being appointed.
It was, quite literally, a shit show.
But now, it seems the council is back on track – and it will be business as usual. Although there are many questions. How much did all this cost ratepayers? Will Mr Penman be expected to pay legal fees? Can it happen again? Is there a loophole in the system that needs to be closed?
I don’t have the answers and I barely have the bandwidth to cover something like this. The Local is a small business and we have to be careful with our reporting – making sure we cross all our t’s and dot our i’s. (Grammar people, please don’t come at me over those apostrophes – they are wrong but it just looks better…)
I mean, who thought councillors could end up facing criminal charges for doing their jobs? Well, maybe not well all the time, but still, they are pretty much volunteers, doing their best to manage multi-million dollar businesses.
Maybe we need to realise councils are big business and perhaps need properly paid people to oversee them? I don’t know.
So because I don’t know I will go back to the column from the last edition re the missing perfume.
As I said, Kyle bought me a gift online, it never arrived, I went pitbull and got the money refunded. You would think end of story. But no.
Kyle is nothing if not determined. So he went back online, bought me a jewellery box for travelling, paid for it, and it has not yet arrived. Aghhh.
I was going to unleash myself again but I received an email from Daniel who said you could go to your bank and ask them to cancel the transaction because the item did not arrive.
I didn’t think about that so I reckon that might be a better way to go. And I am going to try and convince Kyle that I have a very nice life and all I need, probably more than I need, and not to buy me any more online presents. Just sayin’…

I am so bored talking about the council, potholes and how cold it is. Yes, it’s bloody cold, we have just had a huge bunch of ratepayers’ money that we can ill afford swallowed up in litigation (what was all that about, FFS?).
So I thought I’d talk about a dark theory I spotted on the ‘Gram instead — a tale so dastardly it makes the one-two knock-down blow VHS gave Betamax back in the 80s look like a schoolyard scuffle.
I love a good conspiracy theory, and they frequently turn up on my Insta feed, so I thought now and then I’d share what’s on there, combined with a bit of historical fact-finding courtesy of Claude (AI). This week: the story of how Big Nylon knocked off Big Hemp back in the 1930s. Which has led to our world, our bodies and our brains being overrun by microplastics, good on you, big business America.
Picture the scene. It’s the mid-1930s. Some clever cookie invents a machine that can strip hemp fibre quicker than one can strip the enthusiasm out of a council meeting. Suddenly hemp is looking to industries like paper and textiles. Apparently Popular Mechanics even ran a story calling it the “New Billion-Dollar Crop”.
Meanwhile, over at DuPont, the boffins have just patented nylon – a shiny new synthetic fibre destined for stockings and believe it or not, toothbrush bristles – not exactly a head-on rival to a paddock of hemp.
DuPont also happens to be sitting pretty on a wood-pulp paper process. And who’s minding the Treasury at the time? Andrew Mellon, a fella with DuPont banking interests as long as your arm.
And who runs the Federal Bureau of Narcotics? Harry Anslinger Mellon’s nephew-in-law, as it happens. This is starting to sound a bit like FIFA going public story with Trump’s son-in-law’s brother Joshua Kushner. Again, history repeating itself for the betterment of one or two families and stuff all the rest.
So, the theory goes: these three amigos Mellon, Anslinger and DuPont cook up the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 behind closed doors, quietly strangling hemp in its cradle so nylon and wood pulp can have the paddock to themselves. Tidy story. Great villain action movie feel. The kind of thing you’d pitch as a Netflix doco with moody drone shots of empty hemp fields and weather-beaten farmers.
The Tax Act was driven far more by the reefer-madness hysteria of the era, it didn’t ban marijuana (or hemp) outright: that would have run into constitutional trouble, since the federal government didn’t have a clear power to prohibit a plant altogether.
Instead, it imposed a tax and a licensing/registration regime on anyone growing, selling, or transporting cannabis (industrial hemp included, since it’s the same plant species, cannabis sativa).
Growers and dealers had to register and pay a tax – miss the paperwork or the tax, and you were committing a federal crime, with penalties up to $2000 and five years’ imprisonment, which basically took away any profit from the farmers.
DuPont one, farmers nil, but now we have the issue from microplastics which stems all the way back to the 1930s, got one family filthy rich and caused and is still causing countless cases of cancer.
Conspiracy rant over…

Hi there, I am Olive, just one and still finding my way in the world.
I am growing more confident and curious, which the shelter guys say show just how resilient and adaptable I am.
I like calm interactions and am learning to like human companionship – you guys are lovely.
I would love a home with a peaceful environment and someone who understands that my trust is built gradually.
Microchip number: 95600018916797
Come and meet me at MAAWS.

Call 5472 5277 | shelter@maaw.org.au

My garden wears a shawl of lace
an icy shimmering across the grass.
Cold morning air kisses my face
and air tastes sharp and bright as glass.

Chilly mornings I inch from my bed
coldair coldroom coldfeet coldface
in the waking day, not easy to comprehend
all joy of warm and snug gone, without trace.

But, cinnamon, brown sugar and spice,
hands warmed by hot chocolate, hot toast,
cream and nutmeg on sugared apple pies,
crispy gold potatoes, peas, gravy and roast.

There’s something about the chill and dark
and all those things that winter does
that adds to life a certain spark,
a certain anticipatory buzz.

Its thunder and its lightning
its singing percussive rain
whether peaceful or when frightening,
its endless coming and going again.

A backdrop for Spring and its showy excess.
We stagger outside to a whole new space.
A simple sweetness, not so dramatically intense
made more precious by what it replaced.

*Happy winter

– Rhonda Cotsell

Before retiring to Creswick, Rhonda was a librarian for 30 years in academic and special libraries, and a volunteer in the Creswick Visitor Information Centre. Much of her writing now circles around life there, both its beauty and challenges.

Local Lines features poetry by locals about local and any other matters.
Please submit poems to Bill Wootton at cottlesbreedge@gmail.com

Caitlin Marks was raised by her maternal grandparents from an early age, following the unexpected death of her mother. Her grandmother was a craftsperson and her grandfather an author and journalist, her mother’s brother a musician. Caitlin says creativity has always pulsed in her background and through her veins, and she continues to find large parts of herself and her story within all these pursuits. Photography makes the creative quadrella complete. She chatted with Donna Kelly.

“I became entranced by photography at an early age. I discovered a vintage strut-folding camera on my grandparents’ bookshelf as a young child and was utterly fascinated by it. How could a box hold an image and then teleport it to a page to keep forever? Certain photographs of my mother also transfixed me. In their own magical way, photos helped my heart keep my mother alive.
“Although I never met him, there was also a direct family connection to photography – my father’s father was a photojournalist. Both my grandfathers together created a published children’s book with their respective artistic trades, and that is how my mother and father had met. Travelling with my grandmother through Europe, America and Asia as an eight- and 13-year-old, I may have hijacked her Kodak 110 Instamatic on more than one occasion. There was definitely always an allure to the way photography made me feel, what it allowed me to explore and hold.
“In my early 20s I completed Honours in History at the University of Melbourne, focusing on its interplay with memory and the understanding that every story – and picture – contains more than two perspectives.
“This was also when I met my father for the first time. Before we even sat down to speak, he passed me an old orange AGFA envelope containing photographs of my mother that I’d never seen before – photographs that he had taken during their time together, capturing moments and emotions that I wasn’t aware had existed.
“It felt like it was not only my father I was meeting for the first time. And you’ll never guess what my father did – and still does – for a living. That’s when my attraction to photography as a medium started to make even more sense to me.
“In my late 20s and early 30s during my six-year stint in the UK I travelled extensively to Europe, the Americas and Asia with the vintage Nikon my father gave me as my constant companion. I found a combination of enchantment, joy and safety behind a camera.
“Photography allows me to experience and engage with the world creatively by enabling me to seek out connection, story and meaning. It brings me wonder by revealing the unexpected. It allows me to capture the surprising and intimate, and provides the interesting buffer of viewing from a slight safe distance through a lens when I am overwhelmed by my surroundings.
“Concepts around dying and death, loss and grief and the precarity and preciousness of life came to me from an early age, alongside the joy of creativity and story that my grandparents (and later my father) bestowed. I believe this has led me to always seek out ways to engage with the spectrum of colour, light and shade that life throws with gratitude, to glean insights to myself, and others, through creative connection.
“In turn my photography particularly draws me to ideas around illumination, colour, reflection and shadow. I relish catching a moment of intimacy, different and perhaps surprising perspectives and hidden meaning through the varied – sometimes overlapping – subjects of landscape, architecture, nature and we weird, wonderful and messy humans.
“During a time of immense change, I made the serendipitous leap with my young family to the Macedon Ranges some eight years ago, and feel privileged to continue exploring my artistry, history and present through the Ranges and surrounds. I find myself looking upward at the sky. Exploring nature and public Indigenous sites. Experiencing the profound sense of time past and present, and connection to Earth and loved ones, it all evokes.
“I discover unique creative inspiration at every turn in this beauteous region, and fulfilment and gratitude in the artistic expression and emotion that my camera allows me to channel – to be in the moment, create new memories, remember old stories, and keep them alive. And to share them with you, the beholder, for you to wonder and discover your very own stories within.”
The Old Auction House in Kyneton is run by business owners and partners Rhain and Jo DiPilla. They are passionate about showcasing emerging and mid-career artists from regional Victoria.
Caitlin features in their new Contours exhibition alongside local artists – Arthur Vaughan, Caroline Brockhoff, Di Aitken, Itta Somaia, Margaret Morgan, Melinda Privitelli and Paul Melnyczuk, all with works which respond to the natural lines, ridges and forms that shape our landscapes.
The Contours exhibition runs until August 31.

Daylesford classical artist Deny Christian will hold an exhibition of her New School of Classical Painting students’ work in Stanbridge Hall on Saturday and Sunday, September 19 and 20.

The exhibition will include works of drawings, pastels and oil studies.
Deny said two years ago, she and her students held their inaugural exhibition at the hall “with a fabulous variety of sketches, pastel studies and oil studies”.
“It was very successful with over half of the works sold on the day of the show – so this year we are making it a two-day event.”
Deny has a 50-year history of achievement in portraiture with her portraits being hung in the Art Gallery of NSW, The National Portrait Gallery and The Australian Museum. She also won the Archibald Packing Room Prize in 1999. Her teaching career includes at her Atelier School for 15 years in Hobart and in Daylesford since 2018.

“My teaching begins with weekly classes in drawing technique, art history and understanding classical theories and practices. With a class maximum of three students everyone gets my attention, to learn quickly and well.
“After drawing and observational skills are achieved, we move onto painting in oils from live subjects of still life, floral, interior, figure and eventually portraiture subjects.
“We work from life or from the masters’ paintings. – no photographs. Students stand to the easel in natural daylight for the two-hour classes. This teaching practice is not a one day workshop but a long term commitment to the classical-art principles.”
The exhibition opens on Saturday at 1.30pm and is open until 4pm. Sunday hours are 10am to 4pm
Link: www.newschoolofclassicalpainting.com

Since March, the Bigger Hearts Dementia Alliance Ballarat has provided the opportunity for 15 people from Creswick and surrounds district, to come together on a weekly basis in Creswick to participate in Art Escape 2026.

Art Escape is a program funded by the Community Bank Creswick & District, to enable people living with dementia to enjoy painting, socialising and each other’s company. Local Dementia Alliance secretary Glenda Hipwell said that without this support the arts program would not have taken place.
“We are so grateful to the community bank as it has enabled 15 people living with dementia to enjoy this weekly outlet for their creativity. Coming together in this way the participants have been able to find different pathways to express their feelings,” Glenda said.
Glenda said the goals of Art Escape 2026 were to improve the life and wellbeing of people living with dementia and their families.
“The Bigger Hearts Dementia Alliance Ballarat provides a number of innovative, creative and fun programs including Art Escape 2026 and the weekly Singing Circle in Ballarat. Each program allows participants to express themselves in different ways, reducing anxiety and improving their overall wellbeing.
“Reminiscing is so important and by singing well-loved songs, or painting past events that have, perhaps, been significant in their lives, participants’ mood and self-esteem is boosted and their sense of identity restored.”
While most participants come from Creswick and Ballarat, one participant comes from Moonambel, a round trip of 150 kilometres. Her husband drives her to Creswick for every lesson and she has not missed one.
The culmination of this six-month program is an exhibition of the participants’ art works which will be on show at Art on Albert in Creswick for September.
Gallery convenor Julie Reed said she was delighted the art would be on display and for sale. “This is exactly what the gallery is for – to showcase local artists’ work, including the 15 students, and to make the work accessible to the community.”
Local artist Chris Dobson, pictured standing with participant Julie, runs the weekly programs teaching painting techniques, theory and helping everyone get their works ready for the exhibition.
The next step for Glenda Hipwell is to try and source on-going funding for Art Escape. “The six-month program has made such a difference to the lives of the participants. It would be great if the program could continue into the future.”
Words & image: Fiona Watson

The Swiss Italian Festa will return to Hepburn Springs in October, bringing together food, wine, music, history and community for a celebration of the unique Swiss Italian heritage that helped shape the region.

Running across the weekend of October 23–25, with the traditional Heritage Dinner commencing celebrations on Thursday, October 22, this year’s Festa will place renewed emphasis on the stories, families and traditions of the Italian-speaking Swiss settlers whose influence remains an important part of Hepburn Springs today.
The 2026 Festa is being driven by a reinvigorated committee with a clear ambition: to grow the event, strengthen community involvement and once again make the Swiss Italian Festa a major attraction for both locals and visitors to the Hepburn Shire.
The story behind the Festa is one worth celebrating. Italian-speaking Swiss migrants arrived in the district during the gold rush era and went on to leave an extraordinary mark on the culture, architecture, food, agriculture and identity of Hepburn Springs and the surrounding region. Generations later, descendants of many of those pioneering families still call the district home.
In 2026, the Festa will bring that heritage to life through traditional food, wine, music, entertainment, family activities, cultural displays and special events held throughout Hepburn Springs.
The celebrations begin ahead of the main weekend with the official Festa Poster Launch at the Mineral Springs Hotel on Thursday, August 27, providing the community with its first taste of what is planned for October.
Festa week will then begin with the Heritage Dinner at the Swiss Mountain Hotel on Thursday, October 22, celebrating the people, stories and traditions behind the region’s Swiss Italian history.
On Friday, October 23, the Mineral Springs Hotel will host the official 2026 Swiss Italian Festa Launch, before the Festa’s major community celebration takes over the Mineral Springs Reserve on Saturday, October 24.
Saturday will be the centrepiece of the weekend, with the reserve coming alive with Swiss Italian food and flavours, local wines, music, entertainment, cultural activities and experiences for the whole family.
The celebrations will continue throughout Sunday, October 25, when Hepburn’s local businesses will become part of the Festa experience by hosting their own special events, activities and offerings.
It is an opportunity for visitors to explore the village, support local businesses and experience the hospitality and character of Hepburn Springs beyond the main Festa grounds.
A series of additional events and community fundraisers will also be held in the months leading up to the October Festa weekend, helping build momentum while raising funds to support the event.
Importantly, organisers want the 2026 Festa to belong to the entire community.
Local families, schools, businesses, community organisations, volunteers, producers and sponsors are being encouraged to become involved and help celebrate a story that is uniquely Hepburn.
The Swiss Italian Festa is more than a festival. It is an opportunity to celebrate where Hepburn Springs came from, share that heritage with a new generation and invite visitors from across Victoria to experience it for themselves.
Swiss Italian Festa 2026 – October 23–25. Link: www.swissitalianfesta.com
The Local is a proud media partner of the Swiss Italian Festa.

Women from Trentham and surrounding districts are invited to take time out for themselves at the first-ever Trentham Women’s Wellbeing Day, to be held on Saturday, September 5.

Made possible through the support of a Look Over the Farmgate Grant, the event is a collaboration between the Trentham CWA Night Owls and the Trentham Neighbourhood Centre.
The two are bringing together leading local practitioners, educators and facilitators for a full day dedicated to women’s health, wellbeing and connection.
Running from 9.30am until 4.30pm, participants can choose from a range of workshops and presentations designed specifically around the topics local women have told organisers matter most.
Sessions include: Better Sleep, Less Stress, More Life; Nutrition for Energy; Fitness and Strong Bodies; Hormonal Health: Finding Support and Relief During Perimenopause; Crafting and Basket Weaving; Yoga; and Meditation and Mindfulness.
While regional towns are wonderful places to live, access to information and specialist services can often be limited.
“Women are often the carers in our families and communities, but they don’t always make time to look after themselves,” said keynote speaker Susan Marryatt.
“We wanted to create a day where women could relax, learn from experts, connect with each other and leave feeling supported and inspired. We’re thrilled to be bringing this to Trentham for the first time.”
This day provides an opportunity to pause, learn from experienced practitioners, connect with other local women and discover practical strategies to support healthier, happier lives.
Tickets are $20 ($10 concession) with morning tea and lunch included. The Trentham CWA Night Owls are also offering a limited number of sponsored tickets for women experiencing financial challenges.
Applications can be made by emailing trenthamwomenswellbeing@gmail.com
Bookings: www.trenthamnc.org.au/event-details/womens-wellness-day
Details: Susan Marryatt on trenthamwomenswellbeing@gmail.com or Kaz Williams on president@trenthamnc.org.au

Students from St Michael’s Primary School rolled up their sleeves and got their hands dirty as part of Schools Tree Day, joining volunteers from Glenlyon Upper Loddon Landcare to help enhance local biodiversity through revegetation works at the Glenlyon Recreation Reserve and Biolink.

The planting day, held on Friday, July 24, saw enthusiastic students working alongside Landcare volunteers to plant 80 native trees, shrubs and grasses across four locations within the reserve. The activity formed part of Australia’s annual Schools Tree Day initiative, which encourages young people to connect with nature and take positive action for the environment. Schools Tree Day is part of the broader National Tree Day program, Australia’s largest community tree-planting and nature care initiative.
The students from years 4, 5 and 6 embraced the opportunity to learn about native plants, revegetation and the important role that healthy habitats play in supporting local wildlife. Their efforts will contribute to strengthening habitat connections within the reserve and biolink, helping create greener and more resilient landscapes for future generations.
The event provided a hands-on learning experience, giving students the chance to see environmental stewardship in action while contributing directly to a local conservation project. Volunteers were impressed by the students’ enthusiasm, teamwork and willingness to get involved throughout the morning.
A spokesperson for Glenlyon Upper Loddon Landcare said the day was both enjoyable and highly successful. “It was wonderful to see so many enthusiastic students learning about native plants and revegetation while making a tangible contribution to the local environment. Their energy and commitment made the day a great success.”
Schools Tree Day events are held across the country and by taking part students gain valuable knowledge about habitat restoration and environmental sustainability, while helping improve local landscapes. With 80 new plants now in the ground, the Glenlyon Recreation Reserve and Biolink are set to benefit from a greener future, thanks to the efforts of St Michael’s students and the dedicated volunteers of Glenlyon Upper Loddon Landcare.

London Calling is an adventurous recital focusing on members of the double-reed family. With two oboes and baroque bassoon positioned alongside two recorders and harpsichord this very rare concert offering is sure to captivate, surprise and delight.

Step into the vibrant musical world of early eighteenth-century London, where a remarkable group of expatriate composers found fame and opportunity in the city’s thriving theatre scene.
Drawn to the energy and ambition of London around 1720, these gifted musicians brought with them a rich continental style that helped shape the sound of the capital’s stages.
This program celebrates these composers’ remarkable creativity and the stories behind their journeys – tales of ambition, collaboration and artistic exchange in one of Europe’s most exciting musical centres.
Though once widely admired, many of these composers are now rarely heard. Their music reveals a captivating blend of drama, elegance and virtuosity, with a fresh perspective on a chapter of musical history.
The program profiles a series of now highly underrated expatriate composers (Pepusch, Finger, Keller, Loeillet and Lincke) who made their way in the London theatre scene near the end of the baroque period.
William Babell was a local Englishman, and his sublime F major concerto is positioned as a magnificent centrepiece.
The ever-inquisitive approach and vast collective imagination of Mikaela Oberg, Adam Masters, Kailen Cresp, Nicholas Dinopoulos, Ben Hoadley and Justice Karol breathes new life into this program of long-forgotten works.
London Calling will be performed at Christ Church, Daylesford on Saturday, August 15 at 2.30pm.

Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/DIVRG

As the countdown to Words in Winter 2026 enters its final stretch, excitement across Daylesford and Hepburn is palpable. In the next edition of The Local, you’ll find our single-page program grid, where you can check out every speaker, talk and ticketed event scheduled across our town’s iconic venues and plan your festival journey. But before the main stage spotlights turn on, we want to invite you to the heart and soul of the celebration: our Festival Opening and Festival Hub.

There is no better way to launch the festivities than together, on Djaara country. Our official Festival opening kicks off on Wednesday, August 26 from 5pm to 6.30pm at the Daylesford Town Hall. The event features a Welcome to Country from Aunty Alison McRae, alongside student readings from Daylesford Secondary College, live music from the Daylesford College Jazz Band and The Honeytones Choir, pictured above, and our Hall of Fame induction. It is completely free, family-friendly and open to all. Consider this your personal invitation to come down, meet the creative minds behind the festival and officially kick start the festival.
The celebration continues over the weekend and right in the heart of town at the Festival Hub. Located in the Town Hall, the Hub is designed as a warm, welcoming home base where readers, locals, and visitors gather to connect, create and celebrate.
The Hub will be open during the opening event on Wednesday evening, and throughout Saturday and Sunday from 9.30am to 4.30pm with free entry.
Whether you are looking for a quiet moment between events or a place to inspire young minds, the Hub is packed with drop-in community activities all weekend long. You can participate in The Community Book Swap by bringing a pre-loved book to swap for a new treasure or stop by The Society of Silent Readers Nook and settle in for a quiet chapter. The Festival Hub also celebrates local talent with our Curiouser Creations Schools and U3A Exhibition, alongside an interactive typewriter station where you can contribute to The Unstable Draft.
Young readers and aspiring writers are equally catered for, with storytime sessions featuring Dee White and Michelle Pleasance, plus writing workshops led by Emma Gourlay and Stuart Orr.
Tickets for the full program are selling fast, so now is the time to explore the full line-up, book tickets and plan your festival weekend at www.wordsinwinter.com.
Don’t forget to keep an eye out for our front-page feature and one-page program grid in the next edition. In the meantime, you can pick up a printed program from Paradise Bookshop, Daylesford Library or the Daylesford Regional Visitor Information Centre. We can’t wait to celebrate with you!
The Local is a proud media partner of WIW.

Wombats are very social creatures. At the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter, the 13 orphaned wombats sleep cuddled up to each other.

They are very playful and love to chase each other, playing just like you would see baby lambs or puppies playing. They are very inquisitive animals, following each other around to see what’s going on. When volunteers at the wildlife shelter are stationary such as when washing bottles that are used to feed the baby animals, the volunteer will often find a baby wombat sitting on their feet nibbling and trying to undo shoelaces; they seem a bit obsessed with shoelaces.
The reason that there are 13 orphaned wombats at the shelter is that their mothers have been hit and killed by cars or some other motor vehicle. Sometimes the driver stops, often they don’t, and the injured animal is left lying by the roadside, trying somehow to protect its baby. Sometimes the animals are lying injured for hours before anyone notices them and it is then left to the concerned passers-by to seek help for the dying mother and her baby.
Why people don’t stop their cars to check on animals that they have hit is a question that is often asked. Wildlife Victoria has reported a 288 per cent increase in the number of wildlife hit by cars in the past 10 years. As drivers of motor vehicles, surely we have a duty of care to check on any animal that we may have accidentally injured with our vehicle, as we would for any human? Even if this just means phoning Hepburn Wildlife Shelter or Wildlife Victoria and letting them know of the injured animal.
Something we need to consider as we drive through our beautiful, forested landscape is the distance we need to stop, if there is an animal on the road or about to cross the road. Research has shown that a driver doing 80kph will need 69m on a dry road and 85m on a wet road to stop. If you are doing 60 kph you will need 45m on a dry road and 54m on a wet road: www.qld.gov.au/transport/safety/road-safety/driving-safely/stopping-distances
Another point to consider is the silence of electric cars. If you are driving an electric vehicle, how will animals even know that you are approaching if the road is windy and surrounded by forest? Maybe slowing down and having headlights on low at all times is an answer.
Jon Rowdon from the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter says that many local wildlife carers are overwhelmed by the number of orphaned animals that are coming into their care – animals who have lost their mothers due to car strike.
We can help stop this. As we rush from place to place, spare a thought for the wildlife. Every creature has a right to live. Please slow down.
Feeding time for orphans at the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter | Image: Barb Davies
Dr Marita McGuirk is a field ecologist and environmental scientist, and a volunteer at the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter. Marita writes monthly columns about the shelter and the animals it cares for. If you would like to donate or volunteer, or just to find out more information, head to www.hepburnwildlifeshelter.org