This Week in the Can

Posted on 8 March, 2021

While restrictions are lifting, we strongly encourage you to keep physical distance between each other when you leave the house and be mindful of the current restrictions.

WHAT NOT TO MISS

Looking for International Women’s Day events for Monday 8 March? Click here.

Canberra Day 2021

Canberra is turning 108 in 2021! Make the most of the public holiday and join in the Canberra Day festivities that celebrate the businesses, attractions and community that make Canberra a wonderful place to live, work, and play.

Breakfast at Balloons

Start the day with a special new event Breakfast at Balloons where Skywhale and Skywhalepapa will make an appearance. Entry is free but registration is required as this is an enclosed space with a capacity limit.

Whilst the registration allocation for this event has been exhausted, you can still take advantage of vantage points around Canberra to see the balloons in flight. Find out more here.

A Canberra Adventure

Over the Canberra Day long weekend, various activities around Canberra will be taking place. Browse the selection of events below to join the festivities.

For an extra adventurous long weekend, participate in the Canberra Treasure Hunt and discover some of the city’s hidden gems.

Ten spots around Canberra have been selected and participants will be given clues based on history, art and culture to help you navigate your way around the city and learn more about Canberra’s history.

This is a free event however registration is required. Register here now.

Enlighten Festival 2021

Canberra will shine bright with culture and creativity as the Enlighten Festival brings together the best autumn events. Held over 17 days from 26 February to 14 March, the city will come alive with a range of free and ticketed events.

Kick off the festival with Enlighten Illuminations as architectural projections light up some of Canberra’s most iconic national attractions in the Parliamentary Triangle from 26 February to 8 March. Use the CheckIn CBR app as you view the projections, register now to indulge your inner foodie at Bentspoke Beer Garden and Enlighten Alley and book your tickets for exclusive access to explore the national attractions after dark.

Register now to enjoy all the Festival offerings, starting with having your mornings brightened when the Canberra Balloon Spectacular returns from 6 to 14 March as hot air balloons fill the sky. Grab yourself a spot to celebrate local creativity as Lights! Canberra! Action! (5 March) shines a light on local film-makers and Symphony in the Park (7 March) provides the perfect soundtrack to your sunset picnic. Celebrate the city’s birthday at Canberra Day (8 March) and enjoy the attractions, venues, and community that make Canberra a wonderful place to live, work and play.

Happening until 14 March across various venues.

To see the full program for the Enlighten Festival and to register for all events, visit enlightencanberra.com for more information.

Returning to Palace Cinemas for its fabulous 32nd incarnation, the Alliance Française French Film Festival will beguile and engage audiences nationally from 4-31 March.

The festival will take place at NewActon’s Palace Electric, which will be adhering to stringent COVID protocols to guarantee festival patrons a safe cinema experience.

Awash with high-octane drama, seductive romance, nail-biting suspense, historical tales that will enthral and comedies guaranteed to elevate your spirits, the 2021 Alliance Française French Film Festival will showcase multiple Première screenings and special events, including the HerCanberra Ladies Night!

Want to know our picks? Read all about it here.

Happening 4–31 March at Palace Electric, Philip Lim Street, NewActon.

See affrenchfilmfestival.org/schedule/canberra for more information.

Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery

Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London draws exclusively from one of the greatest collections of European paintings in the world.

This unprecedented exhibition includes 500 years of art in 60 paintings and comprises the largest group of works ever to travel outside of Britain in the National Gallery’s 192-year history.

Botticelli to Van Gogh features 55 of the world’s most famous and admired artists from the fifteenth to the turn of the twentieth century, including Botticelli, Titian, Rembrandt, Vermeer, El Greco, Velazquez, Goya, Turner, Constable, Van Dyck, Gainsborough, Renoir, Cézanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh.

Exclusive to the National Gallery of Australia—only in Canberra

Showing until 14 June at the National Gallery of Australia.

See nga.gov.au/masterpieces for more information.

Canberra Balloon Spectacular

Wake up to a view of hot air balloons floating across the city during the Canberra Balloon Spectacular. Held over nine days, the Canberra skyline will be a flurry of colour, sound and movement.

Register now then head to Patrick White Lawns to watch the pilots inflate and launch their balloons from 6.15 am and enjoy hot drinks and breakfast as the balloons ascend into the sky. Or for a morning to remember, experience the thrill of hot air ballooning with a balloon ride.

This event is free for spectators, however registrations are required. Balloon flights are ticketed separately.

This event is weather dependent. Daily announcements if balloons will launch and fly are made at 6.1 am and published on enlightencanberra.com and via the Enlighten Festival and EventsACT social channels.

Happening 6-14 March

To see the full program of Enlighten Festival and to register for all events, visit the website for more information.

A Road Home: Bozhko Marshall, Baird and Crane

Home is wherever we gather with our family and friends. It can be the city, it can be the coast or somewhere in between. Houses get bought and sold; a home stays with you always.

Three Canberra based artists, Valentyna Crane, Elena Bozhko Marshall and Jennifer Baird explore the feeling of home in this expressive Group Exhibition.

Well known for her panoramic landscapes, Valentyna Crane is passionate about the beauty of Canberra, inviting everyone to fly over her much loved city and hills in her body of work. It is the unique combination of wild nature and urban life, vast horizons and blue hills that nourishes her creative spirit, providing a burning desire to paint and to capture her feelings on canvas every day.

In a gentle visual reminder that we are children of this universe, Elena Bozhko Marshall brings an interpretation of our home on this tiny blue planet called Earth. An imaginative view to the exhibition, her clay vessels are an earthy reminder that home is made of your family, past and present, kids, friends, good people around, gardens, seasons, holidays, rainbows and stars in the sky. Elena hopes her vases and platters will unite people around the table to share food, joy and happiness.

For Jennifer Baird, the body of work included in the exhibition is an intimate expression of her thoughts about Home. From her first home with her husband Marcus to feeling at home by the sea. Whether this is in Sydney or by the coast, she particularly embraces the feeling of being hugged by Jervis Bay, South Coast NSW.

Earth, City or Sea. Together three artists will provide a rich and diverse experience for the patrons of the gallery. Come and explore the feeling of home with three Canberra Artists.

Showing 10-28 March at Humble House gallery, 93 Wollongong Street, Fyshwick, Canberra.

Official Opening Saturday 13 March from 2 pm. Gallery hours: Wednesday – Sunday 10 am – 4 pm

Cost: Free

Enlighten your senses through dance at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Canberra’s award-winning dance company, Australian Dance Party presents a new ‘sensory experience’ titled, Symbiosis.

Join Australian Dance Party and collaborating artists for Symbiosis, an exclusive after-dark walking tour through the Australian National Botanic Gardens during the Enlighten Festival with illuminated live dance, music and spoken word.

This intimate open-air experience explores the volatility of the natural world in the age of the Anthropocene. An embodied study of symbiotic relationships: parasitism, mutualism and commensalism, provokes a crucial reflection on human-ecological relationships. The work re-positions the human as a part of nature, and the response-ability we hold in shaping our ecological future.

Happening 5 – 14 March at the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

Purchase tickets via Ticketek.

12 hours, three shows, 11 bands, three charities, one day—Saturday 13 March

On Saturday 13 March 2021 save the day—the whole day—to spend with 11 local acts performing Live @ The Polo, across three shows from midday until midnight.

The spark started with Lauren Melksham, the creator of Canberra Women in Music which ignited a group of Canberra musicians to band together and create a three day Canberra Women in Music Festival.

The Saturday event was started by Lee Grunswald from Matriarch with a group of volunteers. Enter Nicky Green, avid event coordinator for charities with 30+ years’ experience in marketing.

After a few conversations, Lee trusted Nicky to take up the mantel for the six artists performing on 13 March. That led to the creation of Milestone Entertainment.

From one show with six artists, Milestone Entertainment created the WOMEN WHO ROCK for CHARITY Event. A phenomenal line-up of local talent, rocking out across three shows, over 12 hours, for three charities!

On Saturday 13 March, the first show WOMEN WHO ROCK for DVCS commences at midday and features Lucy Ridge @ the Derby Widows, NTT Canberra and the infamous Monica Moore Trio rocking out for the Domestic Violence Crisis Service (DVCS), with Glenda Stevens from DVCS as MC.

The second show, WOMEN WHO ROCK for BERYL WOMEN INC, commences at 4 pm and features Ana Key & the Underdogs, Sally Chicane, Chins (.band) and Box Dye, with MC’s Rachel and Angie from Beryl Women Inc.

The third show, WOMEN WHO ROCK for KARINYA HOUSE starts at 8.30 pm and the MC is 2CC Announcer, Jen Seyderhelm, featuring The Black Souls, Slagatha Christie and Matriarch—it is going to be a hard call to choose which show to attend!

This amazing event is being hosted by Dave from Live @ the Polo, 38 David Street Turner, who has created an opportunity to ‘meet and greet’ the bands after their shows, chat to the charities and of course, grab merch from your favourite acts!

The ‘early bird’ catches the worm, with the first tickets purchased available at a discount price. To access tickets, visit the Milestone Entertainment Canberra Facebook Event page, or the page of any of the amazing artists performing on the day, or go to oztix.com.au.

If you would like to make a weekend of it, the Canberra Women in Music Festival also has “A Celebration of Womxn” at the Kambri ANU on Friday 12 March and “Soulful Sunday” at Sideway on Sunday 14 March.

Happening Saturday 13 March from 12 pm until midnight at The Polo, 38 David Street, Turner.

See Oztix for tickets and more information.

Make Your Own at Canberra Glassworks

Create your own artwork with one-on-one guidance from a highly skilled Teaching Artist at the Canberra Glassworks.

Make your own paperweight, bird, tumbler or vase in a short one-on-one session from 20 to 40 minutes long.

Saturday or Sunday sessions available at Canberra Glassworks. Book online at canberraglassworks.com/create/myo

Magic of Marion: 150 Years of Marion Mahony Griffin

Happy Birthday Marion Mahony Griffin

Join the National Capital Authority and other National Cultural Partners as they celebrate a year of Marion Mahony Griffin in the national capital.  This year marks Marion’s 150th Birthday, a woman that played such in integral part in architectural designs across two continents.

Marion is known to have produced some of the finest architectural drawings in Australia and America but was also instrumental in the award-winning design plans with her husband Walter for the design of Australia’s Capital, Canberra.

From walks to lectures, launches to talks, see the full program at nca.gov.au/marion.

Various events happening until 10 August 2021.

See nca.gov.au/marion for more information.

LUMINOUS at Canberra Glassworks, Enlighten Festival 2021

Canberra Glassworks welcome you after hours as we bring you a luminous experience for one night only as part of the 2021 Enlighten Festival.

As part of the Glassworks’ LUMINOUS program, we will be hosting a Floor Talk and Hotshop Demonstration, LUMINOUS Make Your Own experience, Neon Bending and Lights, Camera, Paint!

The Enlighten Festival is illuminating the capital with culture and creativity from 26 February to 14 March.

Happening Thursday 11 March 2021 from 5 – 8pm at Canberra Glassworks.

See canberraglassworks.com/visit/enlighten-festival-2021 for more information.

The Sound of Music

Queanbeyan Players is proud to present The Sound of Music as their first musical production for 2021. Featuring a talented local cast, the classic story of Maria and the Von Trapp children will be performed at TheQ in Queanbeyan over 10 captivating performances.

In a convent in 1930s Austria, free-spirited postulant Maria Rainer is found ill-suited to life as a nun, and is sent to serve as governess to the seven children of Captain Von Trapp, a widower and decorated Naval Officer.

Upon her arrival, Maria discovers the seven children living grim lives in a strict and regimented household, run by a father who has forgotten how to love. Soon, however, Maria’s zest for life, love and music infects not only the Von Trapp children but Captain Von Trapp himself.

Set against the historical backdrop of the Nazis’ rise to power and ultimate occupation of Austria, The Sound Of Music is a time-honoured story of love and patriotism, including such classic and well-loved songs as “My Favourite Things”, “Sixteen Going On Seventeen”, “Climb Every Mountain” and “So Long, Farewell”.

Young and young at heart will enjoy this classic family show.

DATES

• Friday 12 March 2021 – 7.30 pm
• Saturday 13 March 2021 – 1.30 pm and 7.30 pm
• Sunday 14 March 2021 – 1.30 pm
• Wednesday 17 March 2021 – 7.30 pm
• Thursday 18 March 2021 – 7.30 pm
• Friday 19 March 2021 – 7.30 pm
• Saturday 20 March 2021 – 1.30 pm and 7.30 pm
• Sunday 21 March 2021 – 1.30 pm

TICKETS

• Adult: $55
• Concession: $45
• Groups 6+: $45
• Under 25: $45
• Under 16: $30

Purchase tickets at theq.net.au/whats-on/productions/the-sound-of-music, email boxoffice@qprc.nsw.gov.au or phone (02) 6285 6290 during Box Office hours.

Box Office hours are:

• Monday to Friday 10 am – 4 pm
• Saturday 10 am – 2 pm
• Closed on public holidays.

Happening from 12-21 March at The Q, 251 Crawford Street, Queanbeyan.

See theq.net.au/whats-on/productions/the-sound-of-music for more information.

FOOD & DRINK

Via facebook.com/haigparkvillagemarkets

Haig Park Village Markets

The Haig Park Village Markets are about creating a vibrant farmers market filled with fresh, nutritious, quality produce and products at reasonable prices, with the added bonus of supporting and promoting our regional farmers and businesses.

Rosie and Alex are born and raised Canberrans who love all things markets. Their markets will be an evolving collaboration of many farmers, bakers, artisans and talented people, seeking to share their crafted specialties. They want to support local creative talent and nurture local businesses.

Working together with regional growers and local business they can create a lively and community-driven market that seeks to become a destination for locals and visitors alike.

Happening Sundays from 8 am at Haig Park, Braddon.

See Facebook for more information.

STAGE AND SCREEN

Returning to Palace Cinemas for its fabulous 32nd incarnation, the Alliance Française French Film Festival will beguile and engage audiences nationally from 4-31 March.

The festival will take place at NewActon’s Palace Electric, which will be adhering to stringent COVID protocols to guarantee festival patrons a safe cinema experience.

Awash with high-octane drama, seductive romance, nail-biting suspense, historical tales that will enthral and comedies guaranteed to elevate your spirits, the 2021 Alliance Française French Film Festival will showcase multiple Première screenings and special events, including the HerCanberra Ladies Night!

Want to know our picks? Read all about it here.

Happening 4–31 March at Palace Electric, Philip Lim Street, NewActon.

See affrenchfilmfestival.org/schedule/canberra for more information.

Joel Creasey: Messy Bitch

Joel Creasey, Australia’s Crown Prince of Comedy, returns for another season of sauce and sass with his latest stand up show ‘Messy Bitch’.

You’ll know Joel from his sashaying down a red carpet wearing something extravagant with several champagnes under his belt or from his numerous television appearances; ‘Eurovision’, ‘Mardi Gras’, ‘Take Me Out’ or ‘Show Me the Movie’. Perhaps you saw his global Netflix special or read his autobiography ‘Thirsty’?

However, live on stage is where you get to meet the real Joel. The unfiltered and unscripted Joel who’ll regale you with tales from his life in and out of the spotlight. It will get messy ‘cos, like us all, he really is a Messy Bitch.

Happening Saturday 13 March from 7.30-8.30 pm at Canberra Theatre Centre.

See canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/joel-creasey-messy-bitch for more information.

The Sound of Music

Queanbeyan Players is proud to present The Sound of Music as their first musical production for 2021. Featuring a talented local cast, the classic story of Maria and the Von Trapp children will be performed at TheQ in Queanbeyan over 10 captivating performances.

In a convent in 1930s Austria, free-spirited postulant Maria Rainer is found ill-suited to life as a nun, and is sent to serve as governess to the seven children of Captain Von Trapp, a widower and decorated Naval Officer.

Upon her arrival, Maria discovers the seven children living grim lives in a strict and regimented household, run by a father who has forgotten how to love. Soon, however, Maria’s zest for life, love and music infects not only the Von Trapp children but Captain Von Trapp himself.

Set against the historical backdrop of the Nazis’ rise to power and ultimate occupation of Austria, The Sound Of Music is a time-honoured story of love and patriotism, including such classic and well-loved songs as “My Favourite Things”, “Sixteen Going On Seventeen”, “Climb Every Mountain” and “So Long, Farewell”.

Young and young at heart will enjoy this classic family show.

DATES

• Friday 12 March 2021 – 7.30 pm
• Saturday 13 March 2021 – 1.30 pm and 7.30 pm
• Sunday 14 March 2021 – 1.30 pm
• Wednesday 17 March 2021 – 7.30 pm
• Thursday 18 March 2021 – 7.30 pm
• Friday 19 March 2021 – 7.30 pm
• Saturday 20 March 2021 – 1.30 pm and 7.30 pm
• Sunday 21 March 2021 – 1.30 pm

TICKETS

• Adult: $55
• Concession: $45
• Groups 6+: $45
• Under 25: $45
• Under 16: $30

Purchase tickets at theq.net.au/whats-on/productions/the-sound-of-music, email boxoffice@qprc.nsw.gov.au or phone (02) 6285 6290 during Box Office hours.

Box Office hours are:

• Monday to Friday 10 am – 4 pm
• Saturday 10 am – 2 pm
• Closed on public holidays.

Happening from 12-21 March at The Q, 251 Crawford Street, Queanbeyan.

See theq.net.au/whats-on/productions/the-sound-of-music for more information.

High Ground + Q&A

Join the National Film and Sound Archive for a special Q&A Screening of High Ground.

Set against the stunning landscapes of 1930s Arnhem Land, High Ground tells the story of a young Aboriginal man, Gutjuk (Jacob Junior Nayinggul).

In a bid to save the last of his family, Gutjuk teams up with ex-soldier Travis (Simon Baker) to track down Baywara (Sean Mununggurr), the most dangerous warrior in the Northern Territory, who is also his uncle.

As Travis and Gutjuk journey through the outback they begin to earn each other’s trust. But when the truth of Travis’ past actions is revealed, it is he who becomes the hunted.

Happening Friday 12 March from 6 pm at the National Film and Sound Archive.

See nfsa.gov.au/events/high-ground-qa for more information.

Enlighten your senses through dance at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Canberra’s award-winning dance company, Australian Dance Party presents a new ‘sensory experience’ titled, Symbiosis.

Join Australian Dance Party and collaborating artists for Symbiosis, an exclusive after-dark walking tour through the Australian National Botanic Gardens during the Enlighten Festival with illuminated live dance, music and spoken word.

This intimate open-air experience explores the volatility of the natural world in the age of the Anthropocene. An embodied study of symbiotic relationships: parasitism, mutualism and commensalism, provokes a crucial reflection on human-ecological relationships. The work re-positions the human as a part of nature, and the response-ability we hold in shaping our ecological future.

Happening 5 – 14 March at the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

Purchase tickets via Ticketek.

Lightbulb Improv: The Musical

“Where words fail, music speaks.” That’s why musicals exist. And that’s why Lightbulb brings you a spontaneous musical at Smith’s Alternative.

In The Musical, the Lightbulb players pull out all the stops with a musical extravaganza. With live musical accompaniment, this improv troupe will thrill you with songs made up on the spot to create a full musical. Yes, a full musical!

All it takes is one song to bring back a thousand memories. One song to change your mood. One song to bring everyone together.

Happening Thursday 11 March at Smith’s Alternative, Alinga Street, City.

See lightbulbimprov.com for more information.

Jersey Boys

Put your hands up…it’s time to get excited…Jersey Boys tickets are now on sale!

Remember, seats to the Canberra Philharmonic Society show are limited for each performance so don’t put off purchasing or you might miss out on your preferred show or your favourite seat.

Jersey Boys is the inspiring rags-to-riches tale of The Four Seasons. When Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito, and Nick Massi met, they were just four New Jersey teens singing together under street lamps, scraping for gigs and money in their working-class neighbourhood. A Jersey Boys is a smash hit that showcases The Four Seasons most iconic hits and reveals the inspiring tale behind the music.

Happening until 20 March at Erindale Theatre, 115 McBryde Crescent, Erindale College.

See philo.org.au/tickets/jersey-boys/#sctab87660 for tickets.

MUSIC

12 hours, three shows, 11 bands, three charities, one day—Saturday 13 March

On Saturday 13 March 2021 save the day—the whole day—to spend with 11 local acts performing Live @ The Polo, across three shows from midday until midnight.

The spark started with Lauren Melksham, the creator of Canberra Women in Music which ignited a group of Canberra musicians to band together and create a three day Canberra Women in Music Festival.

The Saturday event was started by Lee Grunswald from Matriarch with a group of volunteers. Enter Nicky Green, avid event coordinator for charities with 30+ years’ experience in marketing.

After a few conversations, Lee trusted Nicky to take up the mantel for the six artists performing on 13 March. That led to the creation of Milestone Entertainment.

From one show with six artists, Milestone Entertainment created the WOMEN WHO ROCK for CHARITY Event. A phenomenal line-up of local talent, rocking out across three shows, over 12 hours, for three charities!

On Saturday 13 March, the first show WOMEN WHO ROCK for DVCS commences at midday and features Lucy Ridge @ the Derby Widows, NTT Canberra and the infamous Monica Moore Trio rocking out for the Domestic Violence Crisis Service (DVCS), with Glenda Stevens from DVCS as MC.

The second show, WOMEN WHO ROCK for BERYL WOMEN INC, commences at 4 pm and features Ana Key & the Underdogs, Sally Chicane, Chins (.band) and Box Dye, with MC’s Rachel and Angie from Beryl Women Inc.

The third show, WOMEN WHO ROCK for KARINYA HOUSE starts at 8.30 pm and the MC is 2CC Announcer, Jen Seyderhelm, featuring The Black Souls, Slagatha Christie and Matriarch—it is going to be a hard call to choose which show to attend!

This amazing event is being hosted by Dave from Live @ the Polo, 38 David Street Turner, who has created an opportunity to ‘meet and greet’ the bands after their shows, chat to the charities and of course, grab merch from your favourite acts!

The ‘early bird’ catches the worm, with the first tickets purchased available at a discount price. To access tickets, visit the Milestone Entertainment Canberra Facebook Event page, or the page of any of the amazing artists performing on the day, or go to oztix.com.au.

If you would like to make a weekend of it, the Canberra Women in Music Festival also has “A Celebration of Womxn” at the Kambri ANU on Friday 12 March and “Soulful Sunday” at Sideway on Sunday 14 March.

Happening Saturday 13 March from 12 pm until midnight at The Polo, 38 David Street, Turner.

See Oztix for tickets and more information.

Maruki Community Orchestra Concert: Finding the Lost Year

Maruki Community Orchestra finds its lost year with a massive program for its pandemic-return concert. Beethoven’s Egmont, Alan Hinde’s world premiere ‘In Search of the Lost Land’, John Gould (ex-LSO, Carl Pini Quartet) solos for the Sibelius Violin concerto and to finish, the radical romanticism of Schumann’s 4th Symphony. Great to be back; join us.

Cost: $25/$20, U12 free

Happening Sunday 14 March, 3-5.30 pm, Albert Hall, Commonwealth Ave.

See TryBooking for more information.

FESTIVALS

Credit: Matt Witcombe.

Canberra Balloon Spectacular

Wake up to a view of hot air balloons floating across the city during the Canberra Balloon Spectacular. Held over nine days, the Canberra skyline will be a flurry of colour, sound and movement.

Register now then head to Patrick White Lawns to watch the pilots inflate and launch their balloons from 6.15 am and enjoy hot drinks and breakfast as the balloons ascend into the sky. Or for a morning to remember, experience the thrill of hot air ballooning with a balloon ride.

This event is free for spectators, however registrations are required. Balloon flights are ticketed separately.

This event is weather dependent. Daily announcements if balloons will launch and fly are made at 6.1 am and published on enlightencanberra.com and via the Enlighten Festival and EventsACT social channels.

Happening 6-14 March

To see the full program of Enlighten Festival and to register for all events, visit the website for more information.

Enlighten Festival 2021

Canberra will shine bright with culture and creativity as the Enlighten Festival brings together the best autumn events. Held over 17 days from 26 February to 14 March, the city will come alive with a range of free and ticketed events.

Kick off the festival with Enlighten Illuminations as architectural projections light up some of Canberra’s most iconic national attractions in the Parliamentary Triangle from 26 February to 8 March. Use the CheckIn CBR app as you view the projections, register now to indulge your inner foodie at Bentspoke Beer Garden and Enlighten Alley and book your tickets for exclusive access to explore the national attractions after dark.

Register now to enjoy all the Festival offerings, starting with having your mornings brightened when the Canberra Balloon Spectacular returns from 6 to 14 March as hot air balloons fill the sky. Grab yourself a spot to celebrate local creativity as Lights! Canberra! Action! (5 March) shines a light on local film-makers and Symphony in the Park (7 March) provides the perfect soundtrack to your sunset picnic. Celebrate the city’s birthday at Canberra Day (8 March) and enjoy the attractions, venues, and community that make Canberra a wonderful place to live, work and play.

Happening until 14 March across various venues.

To see the full program for the Enlighten Festival and to register for all events, visit enlightencanberra.com for more information.

Returning to Palace Cinemas for its fabulous 32nd incarnation, the Alliance Française French Film Festival will beguile and engage audiences nationally from 4-31 March.

The festival will take place at NewActon’s Palace Electric, which will be adhering to stringent COVID protocols to guarantee festival patrons a safe cinema experience.

Awash with high-octane drama, seductive romance, nail-biting suspense, historical tales that will enthral and comedies guaranteed to elevate your spirits, the 2021 Alliance Française French Film Festival will showcase multiple Première screenings and special events, including the HerCanberra Ladies Night!

Want to know our picks? Read all about it here.

Happening 4–31 March at Palace Electric, Philip Lim Street, NewActon.

See affrenchfilmfestival.org/schedule/canberra for more information.

WORKSHOPS + TOURS

Make Your Own at Canberra Glassworks

Create your own artwork with one-on-one guidance from a highly skilled Teaching Artist at the Canberra Glassworks.

Make your own paperweight, bird, tumbler or vase in a short one-on-one session from 20 to 40 minutes long.

Saturday or Sunday sessions available at Canberra Glassworks. Book online at canberraglassworks.com/create/myo

Magic of Marion: 150 Years of Marion Mahony Griffin

Happy Birthday Marion Mahony Griffin

Join the National Capital Authority and other National Cultural Partners as they celebrate a year of Marion Mahony Griffin in the national capital.  This year marks Marion’s 150th Birthday, a woman that played such in integral part in architectural designs across two continents.

Marion is known to have produced some of the finest architectural drawings in Australia and America but was also instrumental in the award-winning design plans with her husband Walter for the design of Australia’s Capital, Canberra.

From walks to lectures, launches to talks, see the full program at nca.gov.au/marion.

Various events happening until 10 August 2021.

See nca.gov.au/marion for more information.

The 5.30 Club Canberra

Inspired by The 5:30 am Club in Sydney, Emily Davidson has started her own for us here in Canberra.

Join her for your Power Hour on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6 am-7 am at Eighty/Twenty Food in Braddon Canberra

Everyone is welcome and there is no cost involved. If you want to start your morning off on the right foot, come and join The 5.30 am Club Canberra! Bring along a book, your laptop or pen and paper—anything to work on for your Power Hour!

What could you do with an hour to yourself in your day? Start writing a book, smash your email inbox, journal, brainstorm ideas for your next project or plan your day…the sky is the limit!

All while soaking up the sunrise over a morning brew, and all before peak hour!

The Club’s motto is ‘Win the morning, win the day!’ Emily says her day is better when it starts with The 5:30 am Club. “After we meet in the morning I’m on a high—feeling fresh, inspired and ready to start the day!”

Join The 5.30 am Club! Look for the blonde-haired girl with the llama on her table.

See sites.google.com/view/the530club for more information.

MARKETS

Haig Park Village Markets

The Haig Park Village Markets are about creating a vibrant farmers market filled with fresh, nutritious, quality produce and products at reasonable prices, with the added bonus of supporting and promoting our regional farmers and businesses.

Rosie and Alex are born and raised Canberrans who love all things markets. Their markets will be an evolving collaboration of many farmers, bakers, artisans and talented people, seeking to share their crafted specialties. They want to support local creative talent and nurture local businesses.

Working together with regional growers and local business they can create a lively and community-driven market that seeks to become a destination for locals and visitors alike.

Happening Sundays from 8 am at Haig Park, Braddon.

See Facebook for more information.

Capital Region Farmers Market

Sample the region’s freshest produce at the Capital region farmers market

The Market is a community project run by the Rotary Club of Hall, the only rural Rotary Club in the ACT.

Find your way to the Market with our directions to EPIC. We have over 100 stallholders each week who bring their freshly picked, grown and handcrafted produce to the Market.

Speak to a stallholder and ask them where their produce comes from—you’ll be surprised what you’ll learn and pick up cooking, storage and usage tips. Find your favourite stallholder in the directory.

Happening every Saturday from 7 am– 11.30 am at Exhibition Park in Canberra.

See capitalregionfarmersmarket.com.au for more information.

SPORT + ACTIVE

Dragons Abreast Come and Try dragon boating event

This event is for people who have had breast cancer who are looking for help and support in returning to an active life and would like to try out a fun activity which has been proven to be beneficial post breast cancer.

Our Come and Try will begin with a short welcome and some on land instruction on paddling technique. This will be followed by approximately 30 minutes of easy paddling with a delicious morning tea at the end of the paddle where participants can chat with other women who have experienced breast cancer.

Come and Try events are free of charge. However, we do ask that people rsvp to the email address or phone number below.

Happening Saturday 13 March from 9 am-11 am at Lotus Bay, off Alexandrina Drive, Yarralumla, beside the Canberra Southern Cross Yacht Club. People just need to look out for the pink marquee and green banner.

See dragonsabreast.com.au/events/dragons-abreast-canberra-come-and-try-day-2 for more information.

Local Yoga’s free fundraising yoga classes at Gorman Arts Centre

Local Yoga and Gorman Arts Centre are offering free fundraising yoga classes all through the upcoming summer months.

Classes will be held in the tranquil courtyard gardens of Gorman Arts Centre every Sunday morning at 9 am until March 2021. Classes are provided free of charge to encourage awareness and donations towards Canberra’s Domestic Violence Crisis Service.

If ever there was a year for Canberrans to embrace the physical and mental benefits of modern yoga, it’s been the rollercoaster ride of 2020.

Local Yoga is a brand new Canberra-based initiative committed to socially conscious yoga—not only making yoga more accessible for all Canberrans, but also raising support and awareness for Canberra’s Domestic Violence Crisis Service.

Happening Sundays from 9 am until 28 March 2021 at Gorman Arts Centre, Batman Street, Braddon.

See localyogaproject.com for more information.

OUTDOORS

National Sheep Dog Trial Championships

Don’t miss this opportunity to see dogs at work at this popular and much loved event.

Sheep Dog Trials are a unique, inclusive, heritage sport where three species—sheep, dog and person—endeavour to work together to complete a course of three obstacles in 15minutes.

Held in Canberra, this unique event is a chance to experience trialling in the Bush Capital.

It is the ultimate level playing field – it doesn’t matter if you are male, female, young, old or in a mobility scooter. Every competitor starts with 100 points – after that anything can happen!

The competition begins Tuesday 9 March with finals being held on Sunday 14 March, where the Governor General, His Excellency, David Hurley, will present the prestigious Duke of Gloucester Sash.

Happening 9-14 March from 8 am–5 pm at Hall Showground, Hall.

See nationalsheepdogtrials.org.au for more information.

Enlighten Festival 2021

Canberra will shine bright with culture and creativity as the Enlighten Festival brings together the best autumn events. Held over 17 days from 26 February to 14 March, the city will come alive with a range of free and ticketed events.

Kick off the festival with Enlighten Illuminations as architectural projections light up some of Canberra’s most iconic national attractions in the Parliamentary Triangle from 26 February to 8 March. Use the CheckIn CBR app as you view the projections, register now to indulge your inner foodie at Bentspoke Beer Garden and Enlighten Alley and book your tickets for exclusive access to explore the national attractions after dark.

Register now to enjoy all the Festival offerings, starting with having your mornings brightened when the Canberra Balloon Spectacular returns from 6 to 14 March as hot air balloons fill the sky. Grab yourself a spot to celebrate local creativity as Lights! Canberra! Action! (5 March) shines a light on local film-makers and Symphony in the Park (7 March) provides the perfect soundtrack to your sunset picnic. Celebrate the city’s birthday at Canberra Day (8 March) and enjoy the attractions, venues, and community that make Canberra a wonderful place to live, work and play.

Happening until 14 March across various venues.

To see the full program for the Enlighten Festival and to register for all events, visit enlightencanberra.com for more information.

Enlighten your senses through dance at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Canberra’s award-winning dance company, Australian Dance Party presents a new ‘sensory experience’ titled, Symbiosis.

Join Australian Dance Party and collaborating artists for Symbiosis, an exclusive after-dark walking tour through the Australian National Botanic Gardens during the Enlighten Festival with illuminated live dance, music and spoken word.

This intimate open-air experience explores the volatility of the natural world in the age of the Anthropocene. An embodied study of symbiotic relationships: parasitism, mutualism and commensalism, provokes a crucial reflection on human-ecological relationships. The work re-positions the human as a part of nature, and the response-ability we hold in shaping our ecological future.

Happening 5 – 14 March at the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

Purchase tickets via Ticketek.

Magic of Marion: 150 Years of Marion Mahony Griffin

Happy Birthday Marion Mahony Griffin

Join the National Capital Authority and other National Cultural Partners as they celebrate a year of Marion Mahony Griffin in the national capital.  This year marks Marion’s 150th Birthday, a woman that played such in integral part in architectural designs across two continents.

Marion is known to have produced some of the finest architectural drawings in Australia and America but was also instrumental in the award-winning design plans with her husband Walter for the design of Australia’s Capital, Canberra.

From walks to lectures, launches to talks, see the full program at nca.gov.au/marion.

Various events happening until 10 August 2021.

See nca.gov.au/marion for more information.

EXHIBITIONS

Carlo Crivelli. The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius. 1486. © The National Gallery, London. Presented by Lord Taunton, 1864.

Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery

Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London draws exclusively from one of the greatest collections of European paintings in the world.

This unprecedented exhibition includes 500 years of art in 60 paintings and comprises the largest group of works ever to travel outside of Britain in the National Gallery’s 192-year history.

Botticelli to Van Gogh features 55 of the world’s most famous and admired artists from the fifteenth to the turn of the twentieth century, including Botticelli, Titian, Rembrandt, Vermeer, El Greco, Velazquez, Goya, Turner, Constable, Van Dyck, Gainsborough, Renoir, Cézanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh.

Exclusive to the National Gallery of Australia—only in Canberra

Showing until 14 June at the National Gallery of Australia.

See nga.gov.au/masterpieces for more information.

A Road Home: Bozhko Marshall, Baird and Crane

Home is wherever we gather with our family and friends. It can be the city, it can be the coast or somewhere in between. Houses get bought and sold; a home stays with you always.

Three Canberra based artists, Valentyna Crane, Elena Bozhko Marshall and Jennifer Baird explore the feeling of home in this expressive Group Exhibition.

Well known for her panoramic landscapes, Valentyna Crane is passionate about the beauty of Canberra, inviting everyone to fly over her much loved city and hills in her body of work. It is the unique combination of wild nature and urban life, vast horizons and blue hills that nourishes her creative spirit, providing a burning desire to paint and to capture her feelings on canvas every day.

In a gentle visual reminder that we are children of this universe, Elena Bozhko Marshall brings an interpretation of our home on this tiny blue planet called Earth. An imaginative view to the exhibition, her clay vessels are an earthy reminder that home is made of your family, past and present, kids, friends, good people around, gardens, seasons, holidays, rainbows and stars in the sky. Elena hopes her vases and platters will unite people around the table to share food, joy and happiness.

For Jennifer Baird, the body of work included in the exhibition is an intimate expression of her thoughts about Home. From her first home with her husband Marcus to feeling at home by the sea. Whether this is in Sydney or by the coast, she particularly embraces the feeling of being hugged by Jervis Bay, South Coast NSW.

Earth, City or Sea. Together three artists will provide a rich and diverse experience for the patrons of the gallery. Come and explore the feeling of home with three Canberra Artists.

Showing 10-28 March at Humble House gallery, 93 Wollongong Street, Fyshwick, Canberra.

Official Opening Saturday 13 March from 2 pm. Gallery hours: Wednesday – Sunday 10 am – 4 pm

Cost: Free

Piinpi: Contemporary Indigenous Fashion

This stunning exhibition shines a light on Australia’s leading First Nations creatives and a design movement that is fast becoming a national fashion phenomenon.

Featuring the work of Indigenous artists and designers from the inner city to remote desert art centres, Piinpi highlights the strength and diversity of the rapidly epanding Indigenous fashion and textile industry.

Exhibition organised by Bendigo Art Gallery.

Showing until 8 August 2021 at the National Museum of Australia.

See nma.gov.au/exhibitions/piinpi-contemporary-indigenous-fashion for more information.

Know My Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now

Know My Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now showcases art made by women. It brings together more than 300 works, drawn from the Gallery’s collection and other collections from across Australia.

This exhibition is part of a series of ongoing initiative by the National Gallery to increase the representation of artists who identify as women in its artistic program, featuring lesser-known and leading artists such as Margaret Preston, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Destiny Deacon and Julie Rrap, this exhibition tells a new story of Australian art.

Highlights include a floor-to-ceiling presentation of artists’ portraits in a variety of mediums, the work of pioneering performance artists Bonita Ely and Jill Orr and a complete edition of Tracey Moffatt’s first major series of photographs, Something more 1989. Gemma Smith has been commissioned to paint the walls of the galleries.

By bringing together artists from different times, places and cultures, this exhibition proposes another history, upending the assumption that modern and contemporary Australian art is a male-dominated narrative.

Showing until 4 July 2021 at the National Gallery of Australia, Parkes.

See nga.gov.au for more information.

Harriet Schwarzrock: Spaces between movement and stillness

‘The heart is often regarded as our emotional centre. Working with this form allows me to contemplate many aspects of being.’

Luminous alone, the myriad tones and permutations of spaces between movement and stillness also echo the boundless forms of love in the autumn-winter exhibition, Australian Love Stories, at the National Portrait Gallery.

Harriet Schwarzrock’s new work explores notions of emotional processes and their physical manifestations. ‘From the subtle yet essential electricity within our bodies, I am fascinated by this interplay between the invisible and the visible, between our extraordinary similarities and differences.’

In spaces between movement and stillness, the artist has embraced science and experimentation to create visual wonders: glass, inert gases, and electricity combine into an array of organic forms, producing a captivating field of colour and movement. ‘Sometimes they have a warm glow, much like an aurora contained in a bottle; in others there are lightning-like lines meandering around the form. Although the gases are invisible, when excited by electricity they reveal subtle effects and differences.’

The creation draws reflections on the role of the human heart as our central, exquisitely responsive ‘engine’. When we’re relaxed, the heart beats at a slow and steady rhythm; when excitement takes hold – for example, in the first throes of true love – the cadence might crank with the beat of a wilful, wild machine.

Showing until 1 August 2021 at the National Portrait Gallery.

See portrait.gov.au/exhibitions/harriet-schwarzrock-2021 for more information.

OutsideIn | InsideOut Exhibition

Artists from the Lime Flamingo Collective,  a networking group for emerging professional artists from the Canberra region, have worked together to create this group exhibition, OutsideIn | InsideOut.

In such uncertain and challenging times, it is focusing on the small and ordinary things, the light ‘within the cracks’ and our internal world that give us hope and solace.

Lime Flamingo Collective artists reflect on the current COVID-19 crisis, life in quarantine, the recent bushfire disasters and the climate emergency, and respond to these large challenges through the lens of both vulnerability and strength; through diverse perspectives and artistic practice; looking at our collective experiences of looking from the ‘outside-in’ during the bushfire and climate crisis and the ‘inside-out’ during COVID-19 shutdown.

The exhibition will include a small body of work from each artist including drawing, painting, printmaking, video, textiles, photography and sculpture.

For more info on the Lime Flamingo Collective, visit their website and Instagram.

Showing until 21 March 2021 at West Gallery, Belconnen Arts Centre, 118 Emu Bank Belconnen.

Drawing Near

Drawing Near investigates contrasting Taiwanese identities through a multidisciplinary visual arts practice.

The series documents artist Chin-Jie Melodie Liu’s journey of understanding her own identity as a Taiwanese woman of mixed heritage (of waisheng 外省 and bensheng 本省) through reinterpreting objects and photographs. In examining archival material, Liu further seeks to reveal the layered narratives that co-exist in contemporary Taiwanese society.

The series was awarded the 2020 ANU School of Art & Design Emerging Arts Support Scheme (EASS) Megalo Print Studio & Gallery Residency Award, Country to Coast Residency and Exhibition Award, Gallery of Small Things Exhibition Award, EASS Patrons Honours Scholarship, and the Gray Smith and Joan Scott Prize.

Chin-Jie Melodie Liu is an emerging Taiwanese artist based in Canberra, Australia. In 2020, Liu completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts with First Class Honours under Printmedia & Drawing at The Australian National University (ANU). Liu is currently pursuing a Master of Museum and Heritage Studies at ANU.

Guided tours: 2-2:30 pm, 27 February and 13 March (registration required)

Showing until 13 March at Gallery, Australian Centre on China in the World (Building #188), Fellows Lane, ANU.

Gallery hours: Weekdays 9am – 5pm || Saturdays 27 February & 13 March, 10am – 3pm

Cost: Free

See ciw.anu.edu.au/events/drawing-near-chin-jie-melodie-liu for more information.

Matisse’s Harem: A behind-the-scenes journey into a secret world

In her latest solo show, Sydney artist Jane Gerrish takes us to the glamourous Côte d’Azur of the 1920s and beyond.

In her highly researched, exquisite drawings, we see and learn about the women Matisse chose to work alongside him in his studios. Treated with the utmost respect and admiration, Matisse often plucked his models from their lives as actresses and dancers in vibrant Nice and would pose them in amazing costumes in wildly theatrical harem stage sets.

We see examples of Matisse’s use of sumptuous tasselled cushions; huge gilded mirrors; tarnished pewter pitchers; carved Moorish screens; inlaid Turkish daybeds; pottery from Fez; porcelain from China; Persian carpets and his familiar, richly patterned textiles.

This unique exhibition, entitled “Observe”, Jane Gerrish’s third solo show, makes full use of her fashion design background, giving us highly sensitive renderings of drapery and precise detailing of patterns and textures.

Showing until Sunday 21 March at Suki & Hugh Gallery from 38A Gibraltar Street, Bungendore, NSW.

See sukihugh.com.au for more information.

JamFactory ICON Angela Valamanesh: About being here

JamFactory’s Icon series celebrates the achievements of South Australia’s most influential artists working in craft-based media.

Inspired by the symbiosis between science and poetry Angela Valamanesh’s artworks elicit intrigue and a strong sense of personal investigation as she manipulates seemingly familiar anatomical, botanical and parasitic forms in beguiling and unusual ways.

Primarily known for her biomorphic ceramic sculptures, this exhibition also celebrates the artist’s evocative drawings, watercolours, and mixed media works from her developing style of the late 1990s until present.

Historically, links have been made between the human form and plant species, not only structurally but also through language: the family tree, our roots, or a severed limb, while early medicine made connections between plants that resembled parts of our bodies and their therapeutic effects on those body parts.

Showing until 12 March 2021 at the ANU School of Art & Design Gallery, Cnr Ellery Cres and, Liversidge St, Acton.

See soad.cass.anu.edu.au/events/jamfactory-icon-angela-valamanesh-about-being-here for more information.

Seeing Canberra

As a city initiated as an imagined capital for the new Australian nation, Canberra has been a place that quickly invited visual representation.

As it developed, artists have seen Canberra through different lenses, and these have shaped the way they understood and interpreted the evolving landscape.

In this exhibition, drawn primarily from CMAG’s collection, visitors will journey through four key periods of the city’s development and for each, will encounter an object that represents a prism to understand a way of seeing at that time.

Showing until 17 July 2021 at Canberra Museum and Gallery.

See origin.cmag.com.au/exhibitions/seeing-canberra for more information.