A favourite photo spot along the Bay Walk, the Volunteer Rifle Band bollards invite visitors to step inside the circle and become part of the performance.

These colourful figures celebrate the part-time soldiers who once provided the soundtrack to Geelong’s summer Sundays. From 1861 until the late 1920s, the band would march from their Myers Street drill hall to entertain picnickers gathered on the lawns of the Geelong Botanic Gardens.

Artist Jan Mitchell originally wanted the bollards placed in the gardens, where the band had actually performed. However, waterfront authorities insisted they remain by the bay. When the Bay Walk proved a huge success, council later invited Mitchell to create additional bollards for the gardens, a request she accepted with her trademark wit and determination.

Look closely and you’ll discover a hidden joke. While the conductor proudly leads the turn-of-the-century “Geelong Polka,” the carefully painted sheet music is actually titled The Frozen Fountain Polka, as the original local score had been lost to history.

Full of movement, humour and local pride, the Volunteer Rifle Band keeps Geelong’s musical past playing on.