1840's Inner City Cottage South Hobart

Bold folk songs of convict resistance and survival. Bush Gothic isn't your typical folk band. This striking trio, led by singer and composer Jenny M. Thomas, takes traditional songs and flips them on their head—offering something fierce, intelligent, and unexpected. Their sound is raw and immediate, their storytelling razor-sharp. It's no surprise they've earned accolades, including the 2022 Australian Folk Music Award for Best Band and multiple Best Music awards at Adelaide Fringe. For Songs of Resistance, Bush Gothic turns its focus to the convict women and children who endured, resisted, and survived one of the harshest colonial systems. Created especially for the Cascade Female Factory, this powerful concert draws on Jenny M. Thomas' deep connection to the site to shape an intimate, place-based performance. The songs, drawn from folk tradition, are anything but dusty museum pieces. They tell stories of resilience: a clever woman transported for theft (Black Velvet Band), a servant punished for a crime she may not have committed (A Convict Maid), a sly grog shop runner (Polly). These tales of heartbreak and survival echo hauntingly in the very place many lived. The concert also weaves in iconic Australian songs—from Great Southern Land to Waltzing Matilda—placing convict voices within our broader national story. Songs of Resistance fills this historic space with music full of life, strength, and voice.

Beneath the shadow of Mount Wellington, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Cascades Female Factory is the best place to connect with some of the lesser-known stories of Australia's female convicts. It is located in South Hobart, only a short distance from the Hobart waterfront. The Cascades Female Factory was a self-contained, purpose-built institution intended to reform female convicts, where the inmates did laundry and needlework services, offsetting some of the Colony's penal costs. Thousands of women and children were imprisoned here, and many never left. The Convict Women's Tour is a comprehensive guided tour of the Site. It lasts approximately 45 minutes. The first tour starts at 10 am. The NEW Notorious Strumpets & Dangerous Girls is an emotional journey through the stories of seven remarkable convict women who faced life's hardships with resilience. Allow approximately 60 minutes. Every day at 11:30am and 1:00pm.

Set in the foothills of South Hobart beneath Mt. Wellington, we’re home to the oldest operating brewery in Australia, Cascade Brewing Co. Proudly local, we’re passionate about celebrating our Tasmanian brewing history. Our doors and heritage beer garden are open seven days serving up the best of Tasmania in a glass and on a plate, accompanied by our warm Hobart hospitality.