Arts & Culture

Dear Catherine, Thanks for being the opening speaker for the Festival of Open Minds held in Bega last Friday on the first day of Spring. You left us feeling a sense of deepest honour and respect for baring your heart and life to us. Ian Campbell nailed it when he said that you opened our hearts as well as our...

Nine Bega Valley community members are dusting off their dancing shoes and will bust a groove on stage to raise funds for Cancer Council NSW. For the third annual fundraising event Stars of Bega Valley Dance for Cancer, each local ‘star’ is partnered with a local professional dance instructor to perform a dance routine, competing for the judges and audience’s votes...

An ancient ceremony to awaken the apple trees, rooted deep in ancient Anglo Saxon tradition, was held at Reidsdale outside Braidwood on Sunday (2 September). The event included the Burning Of The Green Man and Blessing The Trees. It was an afternoon of mumbo jumbo and hullabaloo to toast the cider gods, chase off evil spirits, and wake up the apple trees...

The Festival of Open Minds has been inspired by a regional community that values shared conversation, personal reflection, the wisdom of experience, and FUN! A dynamic program of speakers has been assembled for September 1 at the Bega Civic Centre, a TEDx style event that will have people talking. The broad festival theme is ‘change’. The Festival of Open Minds...

The Bega Valley has delivered a resounding "bugger off" to those who want to develop a $10 million flight school at the grassy Frogs Hollow Airstrip between Merimbula and Bega. Close to 400 people packed into the Bega Civic Centre to address the State Government's Joint Regional Planning Panel who will determine the fate of the development. Because of the scale and...

This Friday and Saturday is your last chance to experience one of the masters of suspense in a truly unique piece of local theatre. Will Ted unravel the bomb plot in time? Will Hannay clear his name as a murderer before he himself gets killed? Will Daisy escape the serial killer in foggy London? The ever dynamic, Pambula based Footprint Theatre company...

The flowers have started blooming, the volunteers are getting ready and the fences at Commonwealth Park are up as preparations get into full swing for the start of Floriade on September 15. This year’s 30-day festival promises to take visitors on a trip down memory lane through the theme of Pop Culture. Icons such as Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson...

The Festival of Open Minds looks to reawaken the art of civil debate and conversation on complex issues, experiences, and ideas. Hate, fear, and aggression have become part of disagreement, on September 1 at the Bega Civic Centre we aspire to increase understanding, share credible information, and perhaps agree to disagree. A dynamic program of speakers has been assembled for this TEDx style...

There's black gold in them thar hills, and now we've got the figures to prove it. A decade on from the Canberra truffle industry's early days, Truffle Festival tourism is now worth around $8 million per annum to the region, according to research commissioned by local producers. There are more than 10,000 truffle tourists each year, and they'll spend up...

Over the last few days, Member for Monaro John Barilaro has announced government funding of $610,000 to refurbish and revamp tennis courts, a showground pavilion and a school playground. Berridale Public School's tennis courts will be resurfaced, the Cooma showground pavilion is set to have a major makeover and students at Cooma North Public School will have their very own new playground...

With Australians using around five billion plastic bags annually and less than 4 per cent recycled, Goulburn’s Boomerang Bags is doing its bit to save the environment - one bag at a time. The Goulburn group is part of a national grassroots, environmental movement that sews and distributes material bags as an alternative to plastic bags. So far, it’s handed...

Canberra is getting a taste of the colour, pride, and free spirit of the Bega Valley's long-running 'Art in the Garage' program. The ability of artists like Joye Umback and Miriam Kydd shines brightly through the works currently on display at the Tuggeranong Arts Centre (TAC), its the type of talent and skill Tulgeen Disability Services has been fostering in...

The Festival of Open Minds has been inspired by a regional community that values shared conversation, personal reflection, the wisdom of experience, and FUN! A dynamic program of speakers has been assembled for Saturday, September 1 at the Bega Civic Centre, a TEDx style event that will have people talking. Inspired by the building momentum around the event, Iain Dawson,...

The Aussie Rules community in the Bega Valley and Eurobodalla will come together on Saturday (August 18) to remember two men who had a love for the game and their clubs and battled bravely with Motor Neurone Disease (MND). The Narooma Lions play host to the Merimbula Diggers; the footie will be the backdrop to an all-day fundraising event for the Fight...

Out of the depths of a Snowy Monaro winter, Cooma Little Theatre (CLT) is promising you a belly laugh with their next production, Rick Abbott's - ‘Play On!’ A play within a play, this is the story of an amateur theatre company putting on a drama performance and in short, things go wrong. The hilarious story revolves around the maddening interference from a...

The long history of the Hotel Australasia on Eden's main street has taken another twist, with the future of the derelict but much-loved watering hole again in limbo. Negotiations around the sale and restoration of the 113-year-old building were progressing with the successful tenderer -  Irisha and Rubycove Pty Ltd, but seemed to end abruptly late last month with Bega...