
The Inventi Ensemble brings the wonder of Bach’s music to the coast. Photo: Inventi Ensemble.
There’s heaps going on in the regions this week to get excited about. From the South Coast to the interior, we’ve found something to keep you occupied – from watercolour exhibitions to opportunities to donate to the community, markets, Bach performances and Mother’s Day lunches. Check out what’s happening in the area as the weather becomes cooler and days become shorter.
Multiple Days

The beautiful NSW countryside rendered in watercolour, from the collection of the NSW State Library. Image: Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council.
HG Lloyd’s Historic Landscapes – Art exhibition
When: 9 to 15 May, 10 am to 4 pm
Where: Rusten House, 87 Collett Street, Queanbeyan
Cost: Free.
On loan from the NSW State Library, the watercolour sketchbook of HG Lloyd shows the artistic results of years of touring the state and beyond in the 1860s and 1870s, with a keen eye for feel, colour and composition. Forming part of the Heritage Festival, this exhibition is a celebration of a local artist from the past, focusing on the tradition of seeking to capture the beauty of the state’s unique vistas. River scenes, countryside and Australia’s characteristic far horizons are all in the spotlight here.

Get inspired to start on your own pottery/claymaking journey. Photo: Gallery on Track Facebook.
“Ingathering – A Celebration of Local Clay Making” – Exhibition
When: 9 to 15 May
Where: Gallery on Track, 2 Blackshaw Road, Goulburn
Cost: Free.
Celebrating local clay-work, Ingathering is a showcase of pottery’s variety of shapes, styles and functions. This exhibition emphasises the diversity of form, showing how individual vision manifests physically. For those looking to get into pottery and ceramics themselves, it’s a great insight into what artists can do in a field of art that also serves a purpose as clay creations are both beautiful and functional.

Give to a good cause this weekend at the Rotary Oval. Image: Visit Cooma.
Mobile Lifeblood Donor Centre Cooma
When: 12 May, 9:30 am to 3:45 pm; 13 May, 8:30 am to 5 pm; 14 May, 7:30 am to 3:45 pm.
Where: Rotary Oval, Murray St, Cooma
Cost: Your blood!
The Red Cross always needs more blood. This weekend, Lifeblood is coming to Cooma, asking the public to give blood and think of a stranger who may need their donation. It’s a great way to give back to the community and enable the Red Cross to carry on its vital work of providing healthcare for Australians that need it most.

The Ringers Western Gold Buckle Campdraft Championship is on from 14 to 17 May at Willinga Park. Photo: Gold Buckle Campdraft Championship.
Ringers Western Gold Buckle Campdraft Championship
When: 14 to 17 May
Where: Willinga Park, 132 Forster Dr, Bawley Point
Cost:
- Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 May: free entry for all spectators, including adults and children
- Friday 16 May: General Admission: $20 for adults (16+ years), free for children under 16. Includes access to all campdrafting events and entertainment
- Saturday 17 May: Super Saturday: General Admission: $25 for adults (16+ years), $15 for children (5 -15 years). Includes access to all entertainment. Grandstand seating options available for premium viewing
- Registrations essential.
Over four days, the Ringers Western Gold Buckle Campdraft Championship event will showcase exciting drafts, including the highly anticipated Gold Buckle Championship, the fiercely contested State of Origin, the Cut-Out competition, and the Ladies Dash for Cash, to name a few!
With $400,000 in cash and prizes on offer, including a $100,000 cash prize for the winner of the prestigious Gold Buckle Championship, no campdraft event rivals the @ringerswestern Gold Buckle Campdraft in terms of prize money.
Saturday

Bach with a twist from local musicians. Image: Inventi Ensemble.
Inventi Ensemble – Bach Art of Fugue
When: 10 May, 2 pm
Where: St Paul’s Anglican Church, Tilba St, Narooma
Cost: Tickets are $30. Book online.
Bach’s masterpiece The Art of Fugue is an intricate and important work, one which the Inventi Ensemble is very excited to arrange for the flute, oboe, viola, violin and cello but with a twist. Each movement is based upon the same fundamental theme but flipped, turned around or switched to a different key so that the audience can feel Bach in a new way through a re-creation and reimagining, culminating in an alternate version of the source chorale by Geelong composer Kim Dillon.
Classical music tragics and newcomers to the dizzying world will find something to enjoy in this reimagining of one of history’s most valuable minds.
Sunday

Check out what the community has on offer at the Pambula Rotary Market. Photo: Visit NSW.
Pambula Rotary Market
When: 11 May
Where: Toallo Street, Pambula
Cost: Free entry. Cash for vendors.
The Pambula Rotary Market is a community event bringing together people from around the area to check out what local artisans, producers and thrifters have on offer. There’s everything from preserves, pickles, olive oil, jewellery, sausage sizzles, cakes, clothing, odds and ends and everything in between. It’s a great way to see what the locals can make and grow as well as recycle and reuse.

Celebrate Mum at the Steampacket Hotel. Photo: Steampacket Hotel Facebook.
Mothers Day At Steampacket Hotel
When: 11 May, 1 to 4 pm
Where: Steampacket Hotel Nelligen, 963 Kings Hwy, Nelligen
Cost: $40.
Looking for a way to thank Mum this Mothers’ Day? Steampacket Hotel in Nelligen is hosting a special celebration of mums across the region with a three-course menu of scallops, swordfish and tiramisu. Mums will be welcomed with a glass of prosecco or a gin and tonic and from there things only get better, with live music from Blue Mallee.

Branch out in your gardening with knowledge from Australia’s favourite landscaper. Image: Visit Cooma.
In Conversation with Costa
When: 11 May, 4:30 pm
Where: Saint Andrew’s Uniting Church, 59-65 Soho St, Cooma
Cost: Tickets are $15 per person. Meal included. Book online.
The Cooma Community Garden and St Andrew’s Uniting Church are very excited to present an afternoon of discussion and local eats. Starting at 4:30 pm, this talk will feature local journalist Nathan Thompson and Costa Georgiadis as they talk gardening and the role that it can play in the community in solving environmental and social challenges. Costa Georgiadis, better known as Costa, is a presenter, educator and passionate landscaper who has used his knowledge in gardening to educate much of the Australian public on environmental issues close to home.
Tuesday

The self-styled “Wizard of Waffle” is performing all over the country on his latest live show tour. Image: Bay Pavilions Arts + Aquatic.
Ross Noble – Cranium of Curiosities
When: 13 May, 8 pm
Where: Bay Pavilions Arts + Aquatic, 12 Vesper Street, Batemans Bay
Cost: Tickets are $54.90. Book online.
Ross Noble takes his audience through tangents galore as he muses and pokes fun at whatever he can get his hands on in this disordered, chaotic but always funny live show that invites each member of the crowd into his Cranium of Curiosities. Renowned for his stream of consciousness delivery and surreal jumping from subject matter to subject matter, Ross Noble has been splitting sides in stand-up and on such programs as the BBC’s QI for many years.
Thursday

Toole faithfully recreates one of country music’s most genuine and beloved voices. Image: Goulburn Performing Arts Centre.
Kenny Rogers and Friends at the Goulburn Performing Arts Centre
When: 15 May, 7:30 to 10:35 pm
Where: Goulburn Performing Arts Centre, 163 Auburn Street
Cost: Tickets are $40.
Award-winning singer Graham Toole has made a career out of singing the songs of the greats onstage, bringing audiences as close to the real thing as possible. For the past quarter century, he has performed tributes to singers such as John Denver and Glen Campbell, and the great Kenny Rogers since 2019. His passion for music as well as clear technical talent have earned him awards and adoring crowds. See what all the fuss is about at the Goulburn Performing Arts Centre.
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