Ballan Autumn Festival: Ye olde fun from days of yore

07/03/2017. Melton/Moorabool Star Weekly. Festival. Issue Date 14/03. The Ballan Autumn Festival is back. This year's theme is 'pioneering days'. Pictured front is Catharina-Isabell with back l-r Renee, Sharon and Marion ( no surnames requested ) Picture Shawn Smits.

Put up the parasols and straighten those laces – Ballan will be transported back to the 1800s for some old-fashioned family fun this month.

This year’s Ballan Autumn Festival promises to take festival-goers on a journey through the region’s history, with its theme: Our Pioneering Days.

There will be lots to see and do, including a ‘Ballan – then and now’ display, a tour of the town’s historic buildings, and sack races to burn off energy. And for a bit of old-fashioned fun, families can join a tug-of-war competition.

A Ballan Autumn Festival Association spokesman said there would be more than 100 stalls, with local producers selling their “delectable delights and unique creations” at the Sunday, March 19, event.

At the heart of this quintessential Ballan festival, though, is the Farmers Market Grande Street Parade. The parade will wend its way through the main street, starting at 11am on the Old Melbourne Road.

The festival runs from 9am until 4pm. Entry is a gold coin donation.

Details: ballanautumnfestival.org.