G'day Ballarat! Tuesday was Census night, so once again we had to account for ourselves. I’m just glad “days since you last saw the sun” wasn’t one of the questions.

After a week of cold, rain and grey skies, Ballarat Blues Fest arrives with excellent timing. We’ve also got a local teenager rewriting the athletics record book, 50 million snacks on the horizon, and the curious story of how Ballarat helped create a Tokyo geisha.

Stay dry and enjoy the read.

PS: Don’t be greedy! Share this edition with your family and friends!

Ballarat Blues Festival is spreading across town this weekend, with two days of gigs at the Piano Bar, Painted Lady, Freight Bar, Hop Temple and Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts.

Sunday’s Main Event brings Joe Camilleri, Wilbur Wilde, Dave Hole and a rather serious collection of Australian blues musicians together, while Saturday includes a Women in Blues showcase and plenty of local talent.

Some gigs are free, others ticketed. If the winter soundtrack at your place has mostly been rain and the heater kicking in, here’s a louder alternative.

Daughters of the West is back with 10 weeks of health education, exercise and social connection for women 18+. Wendouree sessions are now underway each Tuesday at 10.30 am, while Lake Gardens kicks off tonight at 6.30 pm. Free is doing some heavy lifting here.

Ballarat sprinter Grace Crowe has returned from the World U20 Championships with an Australian record. Crowe and her 4x100m teammates ran 43.44 seconds in their heat, knocking a massive 0.9 seconds off the previous U20 mark, before finishing fourth in the world final.

Ballarat apparently played a small part in sending someone down the path to becoming a Tokyo geisha. During a school exchange here, Koume’s host family asked her about geisha. She realised she knew surprisingly little, went home curious, started researching the tradition and eventually chose it as a career.

Sturt Street is getting a school for young people who don’t fit neatly into mainstream education. Y School Ballarat is planned for 1315 Sturt Street, combining teachers and youth workers for 16 to 20-year-olds completing VCE Vocational Major. First students are planned for Term 1, 2027, pending registration.

If carrying your bike through mud sounds like cycling has gone wrong, welcome to cyclo-cross. Australia’s national championships hit Victoria Park on Saturday, followed by the national series on Sunday. Spectator entry is free, with coffee, beers, frites and beats trackside. Very civilised suffering.

Ballarat’s animal shelter is finally getting a purpose-built replacement. Construction has started on a $14.5 million facility at Mitchell Park, replacing the ageing former abattoir that regularly reaches capacity. It will include separate dog and cat areas, adoption spaces and vet rooms, with completion planned for late 2027.

The walls are restored, now Buninyong’s old swimming baths need a new life. Council plans to turn the former baths precinct inside the Botanic Gardens into a garden, with community sessions on 24 and 25 August before concept plans open for feedback. Landscaping could begin this summer.

Parents with children in Victorian public schools, circle Wednesday 19 August. Teachers, principals and education support staff are planning another 24-hour statewide stop-work unless an acceptable revised offer lands first. It would be the third strike this year, so school arrangements may need a little forward planning.

Delacombe’s Springhill Farm is going from snack business to snack machine. New equipment will help double productivity and lift output to 50 million snacks a year by the end of 2027. The expansion will secure 88 existing jobs and add another 32. That’s a serious amount of slice.

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A Ballarat Central address without the big block or big maintenance list. This three-bedroom home sits close to the CBD, shops and cafés, with just 211m² to keep under control. It’s also currently tenanted month to month, so it works as a ready-made investment or gives buyers some flexibility for future plans.

What do you reckon it’s asking?

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Until next Thursday!