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Family, friendships, history and fun all combined in Sutton’s Sesquicentennial Celebrations (1867–2017) on September 9.

The strong community spirit of those early settlers was echoed in the present as more than a hundred villagers joined together for a Heritage walk.

Tales were told of the old blacksmith’s shop, the original Sutton Hotel, a haberdashery shop owned by a Syrian hawker and letters from a soldier in the front during World War One, looking forward to being home in Sutton for the annual New Year’s Day races.

The National Museum of Australia has HEAPS on to celebrate Australia Day!

Family Festival: A world of history and culture

Between 10am – 2pm, dress up and celebrate history and the many cultures of Australia at the family festival, inspired by the “A History of the World in 100 Objects” exhibition. There’ll be historical battle enactments, falconry demonstrations, craft, games, entertainment and more! Charges apply to some activities.

Live music and games

Don't forget to nominate your Guinea Pig in the 2016 Pinnacle Guinea Pig Races! The Guinea Pig Races are on the Sunday of the Festival weekend, Sunday 12th June. Gates will open at 10.30am and racing will commence at 11.30am. 

The ever popular infamous Pinnacle Guinea Pig races are a classic part of the festival weekend. This is a great family event and attendees of all ages will enjoy it. The races attract guinea pigs from far and wide, to compete in not only flat racing but hurdles racing as well, on the hallow 10metre pinnacle track.

Our teachers Eve, Palenque and John travelled to Canberra in May 2014 and joined with the Last Five Coins to present three dance workshops.

Two of the workshops were based on ideas that we had previously trialled at Fairbridge Festival - Games People Dance and Recycled Dances - and the third was Advanced Cajun.

We had the support of Canberra local dancer and friend Marie Wynter, who helped with teaching and accommodated us. We also had the assistance of Franklin B Paverty bush band, who provided live music for the Cajun workshop.

THE program for this year’s Harden Gold Trail Festival has been set with the festival starting on Friday, April 19 with a dazzling digital light show in Murrumburrah.

The light show, which starts at 7.30pm, will be at 346 Albury Street and will provide a rare opportunity to people to see inside the historic Barnes Building.

Ian Warden

However much fun everyone has at the shearers' ball at the Yarralumla Woolshed on February 2, 2013 it won't be such prolonged fun as the dancers had there on the night of November 30, 1907.

Of the ball that began there on that 1907 night, the Queanbeyan Age reported: ''Dancing commenced shortly after 8pm and was kept up until daylight next morning, the only break made in the dancing being for supper [at midnight]''.

Ben Hope

WHEN Franklyn B Paverty first performed in Queanbeyan in 1974 they were described as a group of students out for a lark.

Formed by a group of ANU students in the early 1970s, one of the bush band’s first performances came during a taping on Channel Nine’s New Faces series at the Queanbeyan Leagues Club.

Host Terry Dear was less than impressed by the students.

“Funnily enough the Leagues Club wasn’t even going to let us in,” founding member Graham Chalker said.