Ballarat’s favourite little neighbourhood gathering hots up again just in time to ease the transition from laid-back Summer to an exciting year of new experiences!

Showcasing the very best of local and regional live music, Ballarat Backyard Tasters livens up Alfred Deakin Place in a uniquely Ballarat way over two February Fridays with a 7^th great year of Marvellous Music, Fabulous Food, Arresting Artistry and Delicious Company.

Bringing the world to Ballarat’s own backyard and celebrating our exciting live music heritage, the 2018 Ballarat Backyard Tasters offers an array of exhilarating experiences devised to showcase the very best of our creative city:

Friday, 16 February – 6 – 9pm

Namarilly Bagarook Dancing Daughters Women and children from many tribes dancing together

Edgeley Williams Stories and songs of the human condition, life, love and war with an alt-country feel

Butterfunked Funkin’ soul with a whole lotta brass

Zion and Poppy Dynamic and thrilling partner acrobatics

The Surf Shadows Original and interpretations of surfin’ classics from the famous breaks of Nhill, Mildura, and Lake Wendouree

Opa! Bato Singing horns and driving rhythms as only unfettered Balkan Beat can bring it!

EAT / DRINK / SEE – Kittelty’s Kash Bar, Three Cats Coffee, Saltbush Kitchen, Il Panzerotto – Taste of Puglia, Knife Fork Spoon Enchanted Caravan

Backspace Gallery – Did Someone Here Say Ballarat Archival treasures from three decades of local live music + Ballarat SongWays Music Mapping Tracing the lost and found homes of Ballarat’s live music history

Friday, 23 February 6 – 9pm

BJ Gilson Local Wadawurrung traditional custodian composes and sings contemporary and traditional songs with language that has been absent for 180 years

Arts Academy Mass Choir The voices that brought What A Wonderful World to the Ballarat YES Campaign

EMBE Hip hop beats and words that slayed at the FReeZA PushStart Battle of the Bands Regionals

Westlake and Williams Dynamic four-hand piano with original songs that unravel the mysteries of the Universe such as dark matter, where to holiday, and lost socks

Paige and The Vinleys Original songs in an easy key, reflecting themes of equality and the common human experience

Origami Adam Simmons and crew back with their tribute to jazz iconoclast Ornette Coleman, whose innovative melodies changed the history of jazz

EAT / DRINK / SEE – Kittelty’s Kash Bar, Three Cats Coffee, Vietnam Food House, Masala Valley, Luigi’s Gelato

Backspace Gallery – Did Someone Here Say Ballarat Archival treasures from three decades of local live music + Ballarat SongWays Music Mapping Tracing the lost and found homes of Ballarat’s live music history