2026 Ballarat Begonia Festival

The Ballarat Begonia Festival will make a flourishing return this year over the Labour Day long weekend.

The three-day event will take place in the iconic Ballarat Botanical Gardens, celebrating the city's rich horticulture heritage. This year's festival has an incredible line up of family friendly activities, garden displays, workshops and entertainment, starting with the Begonia Stage hosted by Chloe Thomson, presenting an impressive celebrity lineup.

Celebrities scheduled to appear include Sophie Thomson, an Australian horticulturalist, author and television and radio personality from Adelaide. Matthew Evans, an Australian Chef, food critic turned farmer-food activist from the Huon Valley, Tasmania. Nornie Bero, from the Komet Tribe of the Meriam people in the Torres Strait and is the Executive Chef, CEO and Owner of Mabu Mabu, Clarence Slockee, a Cudgenburra/Bundjalung Aboriginal man and Education Officer at the Sydney Botanic Gardens, where his work involves promoting Aboriginal culture and bush tucker. Formidable Vegetables, a team of creative permaculture and sustainability educators inspiring people through a suite of creative teaching and learning tools, workshops and music.

The Begonia Display will return, showcasing a signature collection of rare begonias at the Robert Clark Conservatory. Visitors can expect to see an exciting display of upright and cascade begonias to create a Symphony of Begonias.

For the full program, please visit the Begonia Festival website.