Discover the hidden histories of one of Ballarat's most notable public parks with local cultural historian, Peter Freund.
Since it was identified as the site of the Eureka Stockade in 1869, and set aside as a reserve in 1870, the Eureka Stockade Memorial Park has become a commemorative site of national importance, while also serving as a community space for the residents of Ballarat East. Hear how the park's landscaping, buildings and monuments have changed over time, and how the park has been shaped by the local community on the one hand, and local and State governments on the other, into a place both of commemoration and recreation.
Peter Freund studied history at the University of Melbourne before training as an actor at the Victorian College of the Arts. Since coming to Ballarat in 1989, he has contributed to the celebration of Ballarat’s rich cultural history, devising Her Majesty’s anniversary concerts, performing for the Gold 150 celebrations, and providing the narrations for the Eureka Dawn Walk. Among the walking tours he has presented are the ‘Ballarat Lost Stages’ walk, the theatrical pub crawl ‘Boozers and Wowser’s’, a Gold Discovery walk and a tour of the Prime Ministers Avenue. He has worked as Publicist and Theatre Historian at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Ballarat, where he cowrote ‘Her Maj’, a brief history of the theatre in 2010, and between 2011 and 2024 delivered a program of tours, talks, workshops and concerts at the Art Gallery of Ballarat as the Gallery’s Marketing and Public Programs Officer.
Begins at the Eureka Monument, corner of Eureka Street & Stawell Street South, Eureka.
The tour will be followed by complimentary morning tea and free entry to the Eureka Centre.
