Bendigo Historical Society is commemorating the anniversary of a major milestone in the fight for democracy in Australia and hopes the community will turn out in support.
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The Red Ribbon Agitation is celebrating its 170th anniversary on August 27 with a show at Rosalind Park open to the public.
The agitation dates back to 1853 when diggers and miners looking for fame and fortune in the Central Victorian Goldfields were forced to pay a licence fee of 30 shillings a month.
This was regardless of whether gold was found or not.
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The discomfort caused by the licence fee forced some miners to wear red ribbons as a mark of protest against the payment with thousands of people signing a petition to scrap the licence all together.
Protest a turning point in Australia's history
Bendigo Historical Society president Euan MacGillivray said his group, in a joint effort with the Bendigo Theatre Company, would host the re-enactment.
Mr MacGillivray said the Red Ribbon Agitation was a turning point in Australia's trajectory in the movement to democracy.
"The back story to the red ribbon is quite fascinating," he said.
"Its a fascinating part of Victorian and Australian democracy really. It kick-started the whole movement."
Mr MacGillvray said the miners and diggers who refused to pay for the licence forced a delegation of commissioners to meet with the workers which was the beginning of the end of the goldfields licence fee.
"The Eureka story really tries to capture and steal the birthplace of democracy," he said.
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"Those agitations really began in 1851 in Chewton with the Monster Meeting and then the Red Ribbon in Bendigo and then 18 months later the Eureka Stockade happened."
The Chewton Monster Meeting took place in December 1851 when about 15,000 goldfield diggers downed tools and gathered at Forest Creek for a protest meeting against Victoria's colonial government.
The Eureka Stockade was another meeting between miners and commissioners that took place in December 1854 and ended in bloodshed with some 25 miners and five soldiers killed in the ensuing fight.
Monster petition 20m long
"There is a historical movement happening right now to recognise Bendigo much more (in its role in bringing about democracy)," Mr MacGillvray said.
"It was a peaceful agitation and one that did a lot of documentation they presented a monster petition to the government.
"(The petition) was 15 to 20 metres long, it had around 5000 names on it, it was quite a thing."
Mr MacGillvray said anyone who was interested in learning more about the history of the agitation or Bendigo more broadly was more than welcome at Rosalind Park on Sunday, August 27.
The show will start at 11am at the Bendigo Piazza, View Point.
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