Summer Sundays to light up Ballarat Botanical Gardens

There will be no such thing as the Sunday night blues in Ballarat this January, as the city prepares for Ballarat’s favourite free music festival to hit the stage once again.

Summer Sundays, a four-week music series, returns in January 2024 and promises to provide the perfect ending to your weekends every Sunday across the month.

Presented by the City of Ballarat, Summer Sundays will be a brilliant showcase of talent in 2024, including a great mixture of local, First Nations and culturally diverse performers.

Each year, Summer Sundays provides a wonderful platform for local musicians to gain experience on a big stage by performing to large crowds and this year is no different. 

More than half of the performers in the 2024 event will hail from the Ballarat region, delivering on the City of Ballarat's Creative City Strategy, and the Ballarat Events Strategy.

Each Sunday in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, four different acts will be on-stage between 4pm-8pm, with the traditional spectacular fireworks display to cap off the 14 January show at 9.30pm over Lake Wendouree (subject to weather conditions).

City of Ballarat Deputy Mayor, Cr Peter Eddy said Summer Sundays was an integral part of the city’s events calendar, forming part of a busy period including the Federation University RoadNats Ballarat, the Lake Wendouree Fireworks and the Australia Day Picnic in the Park on January 26.

“Last year we had well in excess of 10,000 people come along throughout the whole month of Summer Sundays, which shows just how popular this event is,” Cr Eddy said.

“As a Council we are delighted to be able to provide this event each and every year for the people of Ballarat and any visitors at zero cost to attend.

“We’ve also made a real effort to diversify the on-stage talent and we think we’ve landed on something special this year.

“There really is no better way to spend a summer night in Ballarat.”

Returning in 2024 will be an expanded array of local and regional food and beverage vendors, with about 10 different food trucks on hand offering a range of cuisine at each Summer Sundays event.

The pop-up Garden Bar will also return, highlighting some of the Ballarat region’s best wine, spirit, and beer producers.

The Bean Bag Lounge will also be back to provide an extra layer of comfort, although numbers are limited. Patrons are welcome to bring their own rug and picnic.

For more information and to learn more about the musical line-up visit the Summer Sundays website.

FULL SUMMER SUNDAYS 2024 LINE-UP 

WEEK 1 (7 January) •    Yacht Rock Revival •    Chitra •    The Pearlies (L) •    Roy Darby (L)

WEEK 2, followed by Fireworks Spectacular (14 January) •    The Pigs •    Chikchika •    Confetti Western (L) •    Rhiannon Simpson (L)

WEEK 3 (21 January) •    Amarau Tribe •    Squid Nebula •    Crank Williams and Patsy Decline (L) •    Jeremy Beggs (L)

WEEK 4 (28 January) •    One Spirit Africa •    Ezra Lee •    The Darlings Family Trust (L) •    Ballarat Grammar Music Program presents: Surfe (L) and Room 51 Band (L)

*(L) = local performers