Red Ribbons is a dramatic and colourful concert piece that takes its inspiration from the Red Ribbon Rebellion which flared up on the Bendigo goldfields of Victoria, Australia in 1853. Thousands of miners, objecting to the harsh license conditions imposed by the government, formed the Anti-Gold License Association. The miners who joined the movement wore red ribbons on their hats as a symbol of defiance and solidarity. Building tensions on the goldfields spread throughout Victoria to eventually erupt in the Eureka Stockade in 1854.
