Our guide to what's on in regional Victoria - check it out!
REGIONAL FESTIVAL GUIDE
Castlemaine Documentary Festival
4-6 Jul – Theatre Royal Castlemaine
The Castlemaine Documentary Festival (CDoc) returns this winter for a jam-packed weekend of bold, boundary-pushing non-fiction cinema. Audiences will experience 11 standout Australian and international documentaries, including world and national premieres, that surprise, provoke and connect. Visitors will also get to experience Q&As, live music, themed parties and LOCALS, CDoc’s much-loved celebration of regional short films.
Check out our gig guide, our festival guide, our live music venue guide and our nightclub guide. Follow us on Instagram here.
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Wonthaggi Acoustic Music Festival
4-6 Jul – Wonthaggi
Expect a full weekend of street bands, singing, dancing, jamming, flamenco, gospel, local musicians, open mic sessions and evening concerts. Among other artists across the weekend, Bass Coast Pickers and Golden Guitar winners, The Davidson Brothers, will perform on Saturday evening. BYO nibbles, drinks and instruments for jamming opportunities.
The Big Thrift Market
5-6 Jul – the Mining Exchange, Ballarat
Who among us doesn’t love a good bargain? Such a soul does not exist. That small joy in finding your treasure in someone else’s trash is one of life’s little lotto wins. Returning for its second year, The Big Thrift Market offers a second-hand and recycled haven of pre-loved clothes, shoes, jewellery, homewares and more. You’ll also find food, music and boutique designer stalls.
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Island Whale Festival
10-13 Jul – Various Locations, Phillip Island
Every winter, Phillip Island transforms into a breathtaking coastal stage as humpback and southern right whales visit the surrounding coastal waters. The Island Whale Festival is a celebration of these gentle giants and the wonder of nature with a weekend of family-friendly events, marine education, whale spotting opportunities and much more.
Electric Wonderland
4-20 Jul – Rosalind Park, Bendigo
Electric Wonderland delivers interactive exhibits, immersive light installations and magical projections using the latest in audio visual technology. Be mesmerised by large-scale illuminated sculptures, a 360-degree laser alley light show and musical stepping stones.
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Bendigo Queer Film Festival
More than a celebration of cinema, the Bendigo Queer Film Festival provides a vital space for visibility. It is a place where queer voices are not only heard but honoured. All stories matter, so gather around this space and celebrate, confront and envision who we are and who we can become.
Winter Wonderlights
4-27 Jul – Sovereign Hill, Ballarat
Sovereign Hill transforms into a glittering wonderland as Winter Wonderlights returns. By day, enjoy the classic Sovereign Hill experiences – hop on a coach ride, try your hand at gold panning and more. Then, as night falls, the streets come alive with faux snow, wintry treats and music, all under the magical winter glow of stunning light projections.
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BALLARAT WINTER FESTIVAL
5-27 JUL – VARIOUS LOCATIONS, BALLARAT
The Ballarat Winter Festival returns with exciting new additions designed to shake off seasonal blues through expanded entertainment options. The 2025 festival introduces a spectacular Spiegeltent called Ukiyo, positioned in the heart of the city opposite the iconic ice-skating rink.
EAST GIPPSLAND WINTER FESTIVAL
20 JUN -20 JUL – THROUGHOUT GIPPSLAND
The East Gippsland Winter Festival is back, lighting up the region with a month-long celebration of lights, food, music, art and culture. New in 2025 we’ll see an après ski party, an op shop ball, a scarecrow competition and exciting chef collabs. It’s the ultimate way to warm up your winter.
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Echuca-Moama Winter Blues Festival
24-27 Jul – Echuca
The award-winning Winter Blues Festival is Echuca/Moama’s premier music event, held annually, on the last weekend in July. Operating since 1999, this volunteer-run, not-for-profit festival is family-friendly and all-inclusive, and offers top quality entertainment for everyone to enjoy. Free to attend, this festival is one of the largest blues festivals in the country.
Knights of Fire
5-20 Jul – Kryal Castle
This icy spectacular offers an epic program of winter wonders and medieval action. Cosy up with a mulled wine or a hot chocolate made by braziers and watch knights battle with fiery swords, or join them in training with an axe, sword or bow. Experience the thrill of live jousting as knights clash in action-packed battles, watch live performances at the Jester’s Theatre, transform into your favourite character at the face painting station, or brew magical potions.
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Apollo Bay Wordfest
25-27 Jul – Apollo Bay
There is undoubtedly a place in the world for scrolling and bite-sized information. But there is also a place for taking a seat around a campfire at night, where stories are told and conversations run wild and free. WORDfest is that campfire. 2025’s theme is ‘Real & Imagined’.
Events include WordPlay Kids Day, Poetry & Pies, Warm Winter Words Author Panel Sessions, The Great De(Bay)te, Writers Workshop and WORDfest Book Club.
Regional Stage Guide
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
FROM JULY 24-26 – Geelong Arts Centre
Thanks to a golden ticket hidden inside a chocolate bar, Charlie Bucket, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, Mike Teavee and Augustus Gloop win the chance to enter the mysterious and magical world of chocolatier Willy Wonka. This childhood favourite is presented by Iona College, St Joseph’s College, Sacred Heart College and Clonard College Geelong.
Clue
UNTIL JULY 19 – Geelong Arts Centre
Amateur detectives came out to play when the board game Cluedo was released in the 1940s. Everyone was a suspect, and no one was afraid of making an accusation. A film would follow in 1985. Here, the Geelong Repertory Theatre Company invites you to a remote mansion, where six mysterious guests have assembled for an unusual dinner party where murder and blackmail are on the menu.
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Dick & Angel’s Forever Home
JULY 18 – Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo
For a decade, the television show Escape to the Chateau was beloved by millions of viewers. Forever Home is the new show that shines the spotlight on the audience as retired Lieutenant Colonel, engineer and chef, Dick, and his entrepreneur and designer wife, Angel, as they share the adventures of their chateau dream.
Vanessa Mitchell: Lube Me Alone
JULY 18 – Piano Bar, Ballarat
Vanessa Mitchell has a habit of saying the quiet part out loud. From dating fails to brutal parenting truths and those life events that make us (hopefully) stronger along the way, she’s not afraid to cross the line of decorum. Her debut show, Teardrops on My Dildo, was a huge success as it unapologetically tackled the female experience, but this woman’s work is never done.
The Passion Of Saint Nicholas
JULY 11 – Lighthouse Theatre, Warrnambool
Picture this: the year is 1991. Geraldine Quinn and her brother, Nick, fearlessly take on a talent quest at St John’s College, Dandenong. And yet Nick takes a real job, while Geraldine goes into musical comedy. Beginning in Wagga Wagga, this is a triumphant tale of following your heart, the friction of divergent paths and what to do when you lose your biggest cheerleader.
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The Great De(Bay)Te
JULY 26 – Apollo Bay, Mechanics Hall
Should toilet paper go under or over? Could a bowl of cereal technically be considered soup? What question or questions will be posed to these wizards of the wit, these rock stars of the rhetoric? Held as part of WORDfest, The Great De(Bay)te will shake, rattle and roll your noggin as two teams enter, but only one leaves victorious.
Alice in Wonderland Jr
JULY 12 – Bluestone Theatre, Kyneton
It can take weeks or months of rehearsals for a new musical. Not here. This is a one-week audition, cast and rehearsal production with full costumes, lights and all. Driven by Sprout Theatre Company, the ‘Musical in a Week’ is a school holiday venture that ends with a showing of Alice in Wonderland Jr. You’d be mad as a hatter to miss out on this.
Regional Tours
BALL PARK MUSIC
4-26 JULY
To celebrate the release of their highly-anticipated eighth studio album Like Love, Ball Park Music will play a plethora of their much-loved hits in virtually every corner of Australia. They’ll be joined by fellow Brisbane act Bean Magazine as special guests, making an unmissable event for those looking for some good ol’ Aussie talent.
Make Them Suffer
3-6 July
Following the prolific release of their self-titled album and their biggest headline shows to date in 2024, Make Them Suffer announced a massive 2025 regional Australian tour, set to bring their insatiable live show on an 18-date run, joined by special guests justice for the damned and the gloom in the corner.
Thelma Plum
3-5 July
If you thought Thelma Plum was done after her huge 2024 tour, think again. After selling out some of the country’s biggest and bougiest venues, Thelma’s swapping the city lights for starry skies. This time around, she’s hitting the road to bring her stunning second album, I’m Sorry, Now Say It Back, to some of the most beautiful and remote pockets of Australia.
Bliss N Eso
4-19 July
Australian hip-hop group Bliss n Eso will embark on a mammoth 28-date national tour, bringing their eighth and ninth studio albums to stages across metro and regional areas. Melbourne rapper Ivan Ooze is set to support all shows, bringing his high-energy performance style that has previously graced stages alongside Wu-Tang Clan, Ice Cube and Azealia Banks.
Thy Art Is Murder
16-18 JULY
Regional Victoria, get ready to raise hell, Thy Art Is Murder are coming your way for their Brutality Across Australia tour. Australia’s kings of extreme metal are hitting the road for a 16-stop regional tour across the country. If you’ve ever wanted to feel the walls shake and your soul leave your body via guttural breakdown, now’s your time.
DOPE LEMON
26 JULY – Barwon Heads Hotel
Dope Lemon is back! The Aussie music sensation, aka Angus Stone, is gearing up to drop his fifth studio album Golden Wolf in May, plus a massive tour has been announced If you’re a fan of dreamy, laid-back grooves paired with lyrics that really make you think, you’ve been waiting for this.
