I’d like to extend a warm welcome to anyone who is visiting the city for the festive period.

With so many amazing things to see and do, this city is a great place to spend time with family and friends and with 13 most excellent exhibitions you can become the local expert to share your city with your visitors. There truly is something for everyone this summer!

The Museum will be closed Christmas Day, and will continue to remain closed on Mondays, but between Friday, December 26 and Sunday, January 3, both sites of the Museum will be open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am until 2pm, including Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

On Tuesday, January 5 we will resume ordinary opening hours from 10am until 4pm Tuesday to Saturday, 10am until 2pm Sundays and closed Mondays.

There are countless ways to keep the kids entertained over summer when you visit.

You already know about Kidzone and Kidztrack, the museum’s engaging interactive discovery programs at our Botanic Gardens site, but I’m excited to let you know that we’ve created an amazing Civic Summer Treasure Hunt.

This is a self-guided tour around Wagga’s Civic Precinct where families can explore and learn about programs, exhibitions, productions and artworks presented by  Wagga Art Gallery, Library, Civic Theatre, Museum of the Riverina, and Visitor Information Centre, as well as a few things to learn about Wiradjuri culture, public art, environmental sustainability and memorials around the Wollundry Lagoon and Victory Memorial Gardens.

Starting Tuesday, January 7, you can grab a copy of the map from any of the cultural facilities in the precinct and start exploring. Don’t forget to be sun smart; remember to wear a hat and come in for some free sunscreen from the Museum before you head outside.

For adults this summer, the museum is excited to launch a range of facilitated group tours, incorporating a 30-minute curatorial or historical talk for cultural and social groups. 

If you’re a member of a group that is looking for activities throughout the year, give the museum a call to arrange a booking. Times are flexible but minimum numbers apply.

For $3.50 per person you will be treated to a talk, a guided tour, a cuppa and a biscuit. Talks in January will be a journey downtown through time presented to Local Historian and exhibition curator Dr Nancy Blacklow who, through her People and Place: Fitzmaurice and Baylis Streets, Wagga  exhibition will give you an insight into the life and history of the main streets of  Wagga.

From February another two talks will be added to the menu by Museum Curator Michelle Maddison. You can be treated to He Belonged to Wagga: But Who Was He? A talk that sheds light on stories of the WWI diggers who left, enlisted or returned to Wagga between 1914 and 1919, or Killing Roger Tichborne: The Strange Case of the Tichborne Claimant bringing you up close and personal with one of Wagga’s most infamous residents, Tom Castro through the Museum’s very own Castro collection.

If you’d like to book a group talk and tour or would like more information, give the Museum a call on 6926 9655 or check out the website wagga.nsw.gov.au/museum

And that’s it from me for 2014. On behalf of the team here at The Museum of the Riverina, I wish you all the joys of the season, a safe and prosperous new year and we look forward to seeing you in 2015.

HISTORIC COUNCIL CHAMBERS SITE

QUESTACON - Science on the Move on display until Sunday 8 February

Emporium touring exhibition from Albury Museum Library on display until Sunday, February 22

A Convict in the Family? Touring Exhibition from Sydney Living Museums, sponsored by Momento Photobooks, on display until Sunday 25 January 2014.

BOTANIC GARDENS SITE

WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN GOLD: Wagga Women in WWI

HE BELONGED TO WAGGA: Our ANZAC Story (1914-1919)

PEOPLE AND PLACE: Fitzmaurice and Baylis Streets, Wagga Wagga

FROM BARBED WIRE TO BOUNDARY FENCES: The soldier settlers of Tarcutta and Wantabadgery (1917 - 1949)

THE SAUNTERING EMU & OTHER STORIES: Life with the Birds of the Riverina

TOM CASTRO: The man who never was

WAGGA WAGGA SPORTING HALL OF FAME

NURSE BURKE: RIVERINA MIDWIFE

The Curious Collection of Sylvia Seccombe

KIDZONE

KIDZTRACK

Connect with your Museum on Facebook, Twitter and our website.

Both sites of the Museum of the Riverina are open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm and 10am to 2pm on Sundays. Closed Mondays.

The Museum’s Historic Council Chambers site can be found on the corner of Morrow and Baylis Street and the Botanic Gardens site is located on Lord Baden Powell Drive, Willans Hill.

Entry is free.

Phone: 6926 9655 email museum@wagga.nsw.gov.au or visit www.wagga.nsw.gov.au/museum.