History Festival

South Australia's History Festival 2024

South Australia’s History Festival runs for the entire month of May. Enjoy a range of events across the City of Mitcham.

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: Mitcham Cemeteries Tour

Take an informative guided walking tour through the heritage listed Mitcham Anglican & General Cemeteries. Both opened in 1854 they are celebrating their 170th anniversaries in 2024. You will visit the resting places of many of Mitcham's & Adelaide’s earliest pioneers and identities and hear their fascinating stories.

WHEN: Tuesday 7, 14, 21 and 28 May, 10am to 12pm

WHERE: Meet at the Rotunda, Mitcham General Cemetery, Old Belair Rd, Mitcham

COST: Free

Bookings essential: Eventbrite

MITCHAM HILLS HISTORY BUS TOUR

Come on an informative bus tour through the scenic Mitcham Hills area including Blackwood, Belair, Eden Hills and more. Hear about the development of the district along with notable people and places that have formed part of its history and heritage. Light refreshments available at tour’s end.

WHEN: Thursday 9 and16 May, 10am to 12pm

WHERE: Meet at Tiwu Kumangka (Blackwood Library and Community Centre).

Young St. Blackwood. (15mins prior to departure)

COST: $10 pp

Bookings essential: Eventbrite

MITCHAM PLAINS HISTORY BUS TOUR

Come on an informative bus tour through the Historic Mitcham Plains area including Mitcham Village, Hawthorn, Colonel Light Gardens, St Marys and more. Hear about the development of the City of Mitcham, along with notable people and places that have formed part of its history and heritage. Light refreshments available at tour’s end.

WHEN: Wednesday 8 and15 May, 10am to 12pm

WHERE: Meet at Mitcham Local History Centre, Mitcham Cultural Village, 103 Princes Rd Mitcham. (15mins prior to departure)

COST: $10 pp

Bookings essential: Eventbrite

BEDFORD PARK: What’s in a name

Hear about the rich history and stories of the suburb of Bedford Park and its surrounding area. Including the connection between the Bedford Group (Bedford Industries) and the old Bedford Park TB Sanatorium. Enjoy a fascinating, informative talk and rare photo presentation from a local resident and Mitcham Local History Service volunteer.

WHEN: Sunday 5 May, 2pm to 4pm

WHERE: Pasadena Community Centre. 47 Adelaide Tce, Pasadena 5042

COST: Free

Bookings essential: Eventbrite

PEOPLE & PLACES IN COLOUR: Mitcham Plains Photo Exhibition

Come and view a fascinating and informative photographic exhibition inside the Mitcham Memorial Library, where large B&W historical photographs of people and places within the Mitcham plains area, are brought to life in spectacular colour.

WHEN: Throughout the month of May, During Library opening hours

WHERE: Mitcham Memorial Library. 154 Belair Road, Hawthorn

COST: Free

Bookings: Not essential.

PEOPLE & PLACES IN COLOUR: Mitcham Hills Photo Exhibition

Come and view a fascinating and informative photographic exhibition inside Tiwu Kumangka, where large B&W historical photographs of people and places within the Mitcham Hills area, are brought to life in spectacular colour.

WHEN: Throughout the month of May, During Library opening hours

WHERE: Tiwu Kumangka (Blackwood Library and Community Centre). Young Street, Blackwood.

COST:Free

Bookings: Not essential.

WOMEN'S MEMORIAL PLAYING FIELDS: A Living Memorial to Our Brave Nurses

A presentation about the annual Bangka Day Memorial Service. See the new memorial dedicated to 22 nurses massacred, photographic displays and memorabilia. Take a walk around the memorial plaza and learn about the features and how they relate to the story. Finish wtih light refreshments in the new clubrooms which support women's sport.

WHEN: Thursday 2 and 16 May, 10.30am

WHERE: Gate 2, Cnr Shepherds Hill and Ayliffes Roads, St Marys

COST: By donation

Bookings: Visit History Festival website here.

Belair National Park: Off the Beaten Track

Tour Australia’s second oldest national park in a minibus with a guide to sites of historic significance, including Old Government House. Walk in the bush to learn about native flora, fauna and pre-settlement use of the land. This activity involves short distance walks on rough tracks. Limited numbers.

WHEN: Saturday 18 May, 11.50am to 5pm or Sunday 19 May, 8.45am to 2pm

COST: $35, includes morning and afternoon tea, park and Old Government House entry. Please bring a cut lunch and drink.

BOOKINGS: Essential. Contact Anne Hazell, Blackwood Action Group, at ahazellau@gmail.com

Travel back in time…… by Train

Catch the train at Belair Railway Station to the Eden Hills and Blackwood stations. Learn about the development and challenges faced by the early railway network, first built 140 years ago, and its value to local districts and the state. Includes Devonshire tea at Blackwood station. Limited numbers.

WHEN: Sunday 5 May or Sunday 25 May, 8.30am to 12.30pm

WHERE: Meet at Belair Railway Station

COST: $5 plus train tickets if applicable

BOOKINGS: Essential. Contact Anne Hazell, Blackwood Action Group, ahazellau@gmail.com

Belair East: Heritage Along the Ridge

Belair’s history and its links to the development of the state will be shared and grand summer residences highlighted as we walk along Sheoak Road. Refreshments served at the heritage listed Belair station. Limited numbers.

WHEN: Friday 10 May or Saturday 27 May, 1.30pm to 3.30pm

WHERE: Meet at corner Sheoak Road and Francis Street, Belair

COST: $5

BOOKINGS: Essential. Contact Anne Hazell, Blackwood Action Group, ahazellau@gmail.com

Brownhill Creek Recreation Park Walk

Enjoy a guided walk through Brownhill Creek Recreation Park with Ron Bellchambers, Community Engagement Officer for Brownhill Creek Association and member of Mitcham Historical Society. Learn about the Shelter Tree preservation and conservation project.

WHEN: Sunday 5 or Sunday 19 May, 1.30pm to 4.30pm

WHERE: Brownhill Creek Recreation Park

COST: $5.50 (children under 12 free)

BOOKINGS: Essential via www.mitchamcouncil.sa.gov.au/history-festival

(https://events.humanitix.com/guided-walk-brownhill-creek-recreation-park)

Ellison’s Gully (Brownhill Creek) Guided Walk

Join Councillor Andrew Tilley, whose family has lived in the area for five generations, on a walk that starts at the old manure pits in Brownhill Creek. This Mitcham Historical Society tour takes in the scenic beauty of Ellison's Gully, an historic stone bridge and disused silver mineshafts. See the 140-year-old Mitcham water works that once supplied Unley and Adelaide.

WHEN: Sunday 12 or Sunday 26 May, 1.30pm to 4.30pm

WHERE: Meet at the manure pits on Brown Hill Creek Road

COST: $5.50 (under 12 free)

BOOKINGS: Essential via www.mitchamcouncil.sa.gov.au/history-festival

(https://events.humanitix.com/guided-walk-ellison-s-gully-brownhill-creek-history-festival-2024)

Ancient Legends (in a Modern World) Exhibition

Gallery One presents an exhibition of Indigenous works sourced locally, including paintings by 100-year-old Aunty Glenda Hayes. The exhibition culminates in a concert featuring Les Gitans Blancs on Friday 31 May with the opportunity to participate in a fundraising raffle to win ‘Bush Tucker Dreaming’ by Lilita Napurrula Tilmouth, valued at $1150.

WHEN: May 1 to 31 during Gallery opening hours

WHERE: Gallery One, 1 Torrens Street, Mitcham

COST: Free

BOOKINGS: www.galleryone.org.au

Centennial Park Pioneers Tour

Centennial Park’s history of progression, innovation and passionate pioneers will be the focus of 90-minute walking tours. Tours include visits to the resting places of prominent South Australians. Each attendee will receive a copy of ‘At the End of the Road’ by Robert Nicol, a book covering 160 years of cemetery progression in South Australia.

To book, visit www.centennialpark.org

WHEN: May 1 to 31, various dates

WHERE: Centennial Park, 760 Goodwood Road, Pasadena

COST: Free

BOOKINGS: www.centennialpark.org

If you don't fight... you lose: politics, posters and PAM

Step back to the political volatility, student activism and industrial unrest of the 1970s. With a focus on political prints and posters of the era, curators Catherine Speck and Jude Adams cast new light on the Adelaide-based group, PAM (Progressive Art Movement).

WHEN: 6 May to 5 July, Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm, Thursday until 7pm

WHERE: Flinders Museum of Art, Flinders University, Sturt Road, Bedford Park

COST: Free

DETAILS: https://www.flinders.edu.au/museum-of-art/exhibitions/if-you-dont-fight-you-lose