Arts and culture in autumn - What’s on this season in Geelong and The Bellarine

With the weather beginning to turn, it’s time to get some culture (and get indoors, preferably by an open fire). Luckily, Geelong and The Bellarine have a bunch of galleries, museums and cultural attractions to keep you entertained this autumn. From contemporary Australian art to Geelong’s wool-making heritage and a full programme of theatre and dance – there’s a little something for everyone this year.

Here are some of our 2025 autumn highlights.

It’s one of Australia’s oldest galleries, located right next to Johnstone Park, and entry is free! What are you waiting for? Geelong Gallery usually has a mix of classic and contemporary art, and this season’s exhibitions include some real gems. There’s the annual Future Creatives program (22 Feb – 30 March), which showcases the region’s emerging artists; John Norman Mann’s stunning bequest collection, which runs until Sunday 11 May; and don’t miss Sequence from legendary avant-garde Australian artist, Roger Kemp. That one runs until 18 May. Finish your browsing with a well-deserved coffee at Public Café, just below the library.

You’ll find Queenscliff Gallery on the main strip in Queenscliff, just off the roundabout where Stoke St meats Hesse St. This is, first and foremost, a regional gallery, which means it tends to focus on established and emerging artists from Queenscliff and the surrounding peninsula. Queenscliff Gallery is owned and run by exhibiting artist Soula Mantalvanos and managing director Theo Mantalvanos. Housed in a beautifully restored 1868 Wesleyan Church, it’s one of the best local galleries on the Bellarine.

You’ve probably driven past Potato Shed a bunch of times without even realising. It’s tucked down Peninsula Drive, just south of Drysdale. This is one of the region’s best multi-arts performance spaces, and their annual programs are a who’s who of Bellarine local talent. This autumn, we’ve got Lyster Opera and their production of The Abduction of Seraglio, a complex Holocaust memoir in Niusia, plus The Exotic Lives on Lola Montez, a colourful mix of cabaret and theatre, showcasing the life of Lola Montez, the wildest showgirl of the 1850s. Get around some local artists and go check it out.

If you visited Geelong and didn’t swing by the National Wool Museum, did you even go? Set inside a beautifully restored 1872 bluestone wool store, right in the centre of town, this place is a deep dive into Geelong rich textile heritage – from the region’s Wadawurrung past to its gold rush heyday. The Wool Museum is also a multi-function event space, and there are usually some amazing exhibitions on-show. This autumn, make sure to check out the Wildlife Photographer of the Year (till 18 May) plus Cats & Dogs All At Sea (till 20 July). You can check out the full program calendar here.

Located on Little Malop Street, in the centre of the city, Geelong Arts Centre is the town’s cultural epicentre. If it’s comedy, theatre, art or opera, you can check it out here. We’ve covered the Arts Centre’s epic 2025 season program already, but here are a few highlights for autumn: the multi-award winning musical Come From Away, an unmissable evening of Brahms and Tchaikovsky, Australia’s premier tribute to Fleetwood Mac, plus a theatrical adaptation of the best-selling Aussie novel, The Dictionary of Lost Words.

Now in its new-look home on Pakington Street in Geelong West, Boom Gallery is the city’s favourite contemporary fine arts space. For over 13 years, this one used to be tucked down Rutland Street in Newtown’s up-and-coming river-end precinct, but they recently moved into a swish, new, multi-level space. Swing by for a mix of painting, jewellery, pottery and more from local and Australian artists, including names like Lara Karasavvidis, Colleen Guiney, Liz Wickramasinghe, Beth Gibbeson and Ben Crawford. You can check out all the current exhibitions, as well as what’s coming up, on the gallery website.

For more on Geelong’s arts and culture scene, head over here.