A Great Country Town

Newstead is a thriving, vibrant town on the Loddon River in Central Victoria, 15 minutes from Castlemaine and about 1.5 hours north-west of Melbourne.

We are a town of the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker.  Come visit - you'll find a café, two pubs, a free wireless network, motel and bed and breakfast accommodation, antique and collectable shops, vineyards and artist's studios. We are home to a kindergarten, a primary school, a swimming pool and football, netball and tennis facilities. There are spots for picnics and a children's playground.

Across the year we host the Newstead Short Story Tattoo - Australia's only festival dedicated to the short story,  the Chopped Rod and Custom Show - a celebration of all things hotrod, and Newstead Live  - a festival of folk, world and acoustic music.

Our website showcases all this activity.   Newstead community groups and businesses maintain their own pages here, uploading news and events.

HMAS Bell launched in style

by Geoff Park

What a great event to celebrate – the launch of Newstead’s own pirate ship, the HMAS Bell. On Friday the 19th February a huge crowd of young and not so young pirates, turned out to celebrate in style. An initiative of Newstead 2021, the idea of a wooden pirate ship playground was conceived by the young folks of our community at the May 2008 Summit.

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An initiative of Newstead 2021