What’s on this (long) weekend in Canberra?
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Staying in town this Anzac Day long weekend? There’s oodles to keep you busy—from festivals to football, musicals to movies, and everything in between!
Special events
Anzac Day
This Anzac Day, come together in person and in spirit, to commemorate and reflect upon the service and sacrifice made by Australians in all wars and on operations, and the legacy created by those who landed at Gallipoli and fought for our nation and our values, during the First World War.
The Anzac Day commemorations will commence in the Captain Reg Saunders Courtyard and Sculpture Garden with pre-dawn readings from 4.30 am. The Anzac Day Dawn Service will begin at 5.30 am and includes the laying of wreaths on behalf of Australia and New Zealand symbolising the unity of ANZAC.
25 April | Australian War Memorial, Treloar Crescent, Campbell | awm.gov.au
Stage
SIX
Want to see the smash hit musical SIX before anyone else?
International smash-hit pop musical SIX lands in Canberra tomorrow night (Saturday 23 April)—and you’re invited to join the HerCanberra team for this exclusive preview!
What can you expect? A modern take on the tale of the six wives of Henry VIII and an electrifying, high-octane journey as these Tudor Queens turned Pop Princesses take to the mic to reclaim their story.
The six Queens are set against the theatrical backdrop of a pop concert, and battle it out to be the lead singer in their band. Each having their moment in the stoplight, it’s a catchy way to brush up on history while also keeping “girl power” at the fore—where it should be.
Want to join us? Click here.
Otherwise, catch it on another night of its run – it’s here until 15 May!
23 April – 15 May | Canberra Theatre Centre | canberratheatrecentre.com.au
Rock Cabaret
Free tonight? Why not come & ROCK OUT with Drag Cabaret! A monthly variety cabaret now on its fourth year running, this Friday’s show is bringing out the wild hair, hot leather, bright lights, & head-banging tunes you love for a night celebrating icons of rock ‘n’ roll!
Featuring live music, Drag Queens, Drag Kings, & Non-Binary royalty, it’s going to be a moshing good time that supports the amazing local drag scene & LGBTQIA+ artists. Prizes for best dressed, so get your frock out to rock out.
9.30 pm – 11.30 pm Friday 22 April | Smith’s Alternative, 76 Alinga Street, Canberra City | smithsalternative.com
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Yass, that’s right, the drag queens of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, have taken their magical bus all the way to The Q.
Rally your fellow queens for a magic show of love, friendship, dazzling costumes, and a lot of laughs.
Until 22 May | The Q, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre | theq.net.au
All the gigs at Smith’s Alternative
From poetry to jazz, open mic to origami, Smith’s Alternative has an incredible range of live performances every week. Check out the calendar, grab your friends, and support Canberra’s arts scene.
All month | Smith’s Alternative | smithsalternative.com
Festivals
Africa Party in the Park
Africa Party in the Park, organised by Africa2Australia volunteers, is back again for another year. The family-friendly day out is geared to have you seeing, tasting, and dancing to the variety of colourful cultures found on the African continent, just here in your backyard, at Stage 88.
Expect live music performances, food stalls, a display of African Artefacts, cultural dance performance and much much more! The event is free of charge, so bring the whole family along to experience a touch of Africa!
10 am–8 pm Saturday 23 April | Stage 88 Commonwealth Park | africa2australia.com
Groovin The Moo
That’s right folks; Groovin the Moo is finally happening. Take that COVID. Corral your mates and grove the night away to your favourite artists, not to mention local food, drinks and heaps of Instagram opportunities.
24 April | Exhibition Park In Canberra | gtm.net.au
Heritage Festival
This year’s theme is Curiosity. The Heritage Festival will invite audiences to be curious about the tangible and intangible heritage that make our region unique. Discover our mid-century architecture, our engineering heritage, or join Ngunnawal custodians as they connect to Country.
Read more here.
Until 1 May | Various locations | environment.act.gov.au
Family Fun
The Canberra Circus Festival
The Canberra Circus Festival is five days of incredible circus, street, magic, burlesque, and clown performances; workshops, demonstrations, markets, community stalls, and more, all set in the beautiful surrounds of the farm at Lions Youth Haven in Kambah.
The festival is part of a youth circus training intensive organised by Warehouse Circus, bringing elite circus performers and coaches from across the country to teach masterclasses in circus, performance and ensemble development to young artists from Australian youth circuses. As part of the camp, the young artists will work with each other to create new ensemble works to be performed alongside their own acts at the festival’s market day.
19 – 23 April | Lions Youth Haven, 244 Kambah Pool Road, Kambah | canberracircusfestival.com.au
Pixar Putt
Pixar Putt has arrived in Canberra! This open-air, pop-up mini-golf sensation is made up of interactive putt-putt holes inspired by the stories, characters, and icons from some of Pixar’s most beloved films including Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Soul, The Incredibles, Onward, Finding Nemo, A Bug’s Life, Wall-E, Inside Out, Luca and more. This premiere Canberra season will also feature a new hole from Disney and Pixar’s latest hit movie, Turning Red, now streaming on Disney+.
The experience is perfect for players of all ages and is sure to become a popular destination through the school holiday season. And when the sun goes down, Pixar Putt After-Dark sessions will be available for adults 18+ from Thursday to Saturday nights from 7 pm–10 pm, where patrons can also enjoy all the local food and beverage offerings around the entertainment precinct.
Until Sunday 1 May | Civic Square | pixarputt.com.au
Easter Craft Activities
Join Marketplace Gungahlin’s team for a daily craft activation. DIY Floral Easter Bunny Ears and DIY Hot Cross Buns!
Saturday 23 April and Sunday 24 April from 11 am–2 pm | Outside BIG W | Cost: FREE for The Hub Members | Click for more information
Teeny Tiny Stevie’s: A thoughtful Tour
2020, for some unknown reason that I can’t quite put my finger on, was a challenging year for artists. Teeny Tiny Stevie, despite the odds, managed to release their third studio album into the world from inside the Melbourne lockdown.
Impressively, that album went on to win Best Children’s Album in the 2020 ARIA Awards, and lucky for us Canberrans, they will be performing a special show at the playhouse. If you have kids or are really into music for children (we are not judging), it’s not one to miss.
23 April | Canberra Theatre Centre | teenytinystevies.com/live-shows
Tuff Nutterz
Tuff Nutterz is fun for the whole family—a place to come and relax while the kids have a blast.
Measuring almost 300 square metres, this supersize inflatable maze is packed with 30 fun and challenging obstacles to complete, including huge slides, climbing walls, hanging rails, balance balls and more!
9 –25 April | Parkes Place Lawns, King Edward Terrace, Parkes | fareharbor.com
Workshops, lectures, walks + more
Pinot & Picasso Belconnen’s Open Studio
Today (Friday 22 April), the Belconnen Pinot & Picasso studio is opening up its doors to the public!
Pinot & Picasso offers ‘Paint and Sip’ nights like no other. BYO food and drinks, with excellent grazing board spreads on offer, and a guaranteed night of laughter, fun and some killer tunes.
With a glass of wine in one hand and a paintbrush in the other, you’re encouraged to just have a go at painting – and have fun while you’re at it!
Friday 22 April | Pinot & Picasso Belconnen, | pinotandpicasso.com.au
2022 Pamela Denoon Lecture – BEYOND WOMENVISION
The 2022 Pamela Denoon Lecture – BEYOND WOMENVISION: Trail Blazing Women in Australian Cinema: How far we have come & the road ahead celebrates award-winning and talented Australian filmmaking women, featuring a star-studded line-up of Australia’s leading filmmakers.
The trailer for the AACTA Award-nominated feature documentary, When the Camera Stopped Rolling about trailblazing proto-feminist filmmaker from the 1950s, Lilias Fraser, will serve to kick off a lively debate about the realities and exigencies of women in film in Australia.
See Eventbrite for the full speaker line up.
7 pm – 8.30 pm Friday 22 April | Llewellyn Hall, ANU | Eventbrite
Daily Guided Walks at Australian National Botanic Gardens
Fancy a trip to the botanical gardens? Get the most out of your trip with a free guided walk.
Led by our knowledgeable guides, these walks allow you to appreciate the beauty and clever adaptations of Australian plants and the research and effort involved in creating and maintaining the Gardens.
Until August 2022| Australian National Botanic Gardens | parksaustralia.gov.au/botanic-gardens/do/walks-and-tours/guided-walks
Film
Moro Spanish Film Festival
The Moro Spanish Film Festival returns with a curated selection of dramas, thrillers and major box-office hit comedies from across Spain, plus a selection of gems from Latin America. Rediscover the big screen with this unforgettable celebration of Hispanic culture.
Until 15 May | Palace Electric Cinemas, 2 Phillip Law Street, NewActon | palacecinemas.com.au
When the camera stops rolling +Q&A
The daughter of trailblazing Australian filmmaker Lilias Fraser tells the epic tale of her mother’s extraordinary life, her career and their challenging relationship.
When the Camera Stopped Rolling reveals multiple sides of this proto-feminist icon and unique mother-daughter team. Set against a rich tapestry of stunning visuals and sound, the film captures the turbulence and triumphs of their relationship and careers with clarity and compassion.
Saturday 23 April | National Film and Sound Archive | nfsa.gov.au/events/when-camera-stopped-rolling-qa
Exhibitions
DECODED: 75 years of the Australian Signals Directorate
Find out if you have what it takes to be a cyber security operative at DECODED: 75 years of the Australian Signals Directorate, a free exhibition at the National Museum of Australia.
Explore objects, hear inside stories, and scan code words to reveal the hidden history of Australia’s oldest national intelligence organisation kept secret until 1977.
Until 24 July 2022 | National Museum of Australia | nma.gov.au
Home Grown
In this exhibition, Canberra-based furniture and object designer/maker Jeremy Brown will celebrate the beautiful street trees of Canberra.
Combining his two main threads of practice; furniture making and botanical illustration, Brown will create a juxtaposition between the natural and built environments and to bridge the disconnect between the origins of raw materials and the final product (i.e., a piece of furniture). Combining design-by-nature and design-by-human, this exhibition will also promote the use of local materials, which is integral to maintaining a smaller environmental footprint.
Until 14 May | Craft ACT, 180 London Circuit, Level 1, North Building, Canberra City | craftact.org.au
Growing in the Gardens
Is there anything more delightful than an Australian Native? The exhibition of botanical art by members of the Friends of the Australian National Botanic Gardens’ Art Group, latest exhibition is, representing the diverse flora Australia has to offer, and rightly so.
Their artworks beautifully depict these national treasures that you could very well incorrupt within your own garden, should the autumn sunshine inspire your green thumb.
Until 8 May | Australian National Botanic Gardens | parksaustralia.gov.au
Three new exhibitions at PhotoAccess
PhotoAccess is delighted to present the opening of their next suite of Huw Davies Gallery exhibitions: Between Hope and Despair, by Natasha Fijn, Eating Wild Weeds by Alex Flannery, and Archive Apparitions by Elisa deCourcy.
In this intriguing suite of exhibitions the artists transverse time and place, exploring the possibilities of cross-cultural and/or intergenerational communication through the photographic medium.
Until 21 May 2022 | PhotoAccess, 30 Manuka Circle, Griffith | photoaccess.org.au
Lake Ginninderra: Nine ways
Often unfairly overlooked in favour of Lake Burley Griffin, it’s only fair that Belconnen’s iconic lake has a moment of humble adoration.
The exhibition will combine local artists, beautiful local landscapes and the synergy of the revitalised new facilities at Belo Arts.
Lake Ginninderra: Nine Ways is a body of work from artists who have captured and interpreted the Lake Ginninderra vista through their own medium and viewpoint. Interested in seeing the lake from a different perspective? Give the link below a gander.
Until 15 May | Belconnen Arts Centre | belcoarts.com.au/lake-ginninderra
Connection: EASS 2022 Exhibition
Discover a visceral body of work by Canberra’s very own ANU ceramic students. The exhibition explores overarching themes of human relationships (to each other or their environments), connection and social impact are explored through wheel-thrown ceramic vessels in distinct and original styles.
Until 1 May | Canberra Potters Society, 1 Aspinall Street, Watson | canberrapotters.com.au/project/eass-2022
10 Years at Strathnairn
The Different Strokes Art Group has been painting at Strathnairn every Wednesday for 10 years. 10 Years at Strathnairn is made up of 26 paintings all identical in size and orientation.
Each artist has contributed two paintings in their own style and medium from collage to watercolour. Without an overarching theme, the exhibition is colourful, varied and hangs well together thanks to the size, shape and curation of the pieces.
Until 1 May | Homestead Gallery, Strathnairn Arts Association, 90 Stockdill Drive, Holt | strathnairn.com.au
Kaleidoscope: An exhibition celebrating LGBTQI+ pride
The LGBTQI+ community is so much more than six colours. Diversity and inclusion are the glue that binds the community; the common thread that makes connections and provokes dialogue. Everyone has their own ideas about what it means to be part of this diverse rainbow community.
Belco Arts is celebrating the LGBTQI+ community, and all that makes up its diversity of perspectives, lived experiences and shared ambitions by inviting LGBTQI+ artists in Canberra and throughout Australia – at any level of artistic experience – to create and share what being queer and being part of the LGBTQI+ means to them.
Until 15 May | Belco Arts | belcoarts.com.au
Upending Expectations
As the title Upending Expectations: Contemporary Glass implies, the focus of this exhibition is on artists whose experimental, innovative and at times cross-disciplinary practice, utilises glass and its properties of light, transparency and reflection, through a diverse range of approaches.
14 April – 15 June | Canberra Glassworks | canberraglassworks.com
Tipping Point
Tipping Point is a continuation of Jenny Blake’s commitment to the subject of climate change. This body of work is a departure from larger works, presenting an intimate look at the subject through 15 smaller works framed in oak.
Until 1 May | Homestead Gallery, Strathnairn Arts Association, 90 Stockdill Drive, Holt | strathnairn.com.au
Jeffrey Smart
The year 2021 marks one hundred years since the birth of acclaimed Australian artist Jeffrey Smart. This major exhibition celebrates and commemorates this significant centenary.
One of Australia’s most celebrated artists, Smart sought inspiration from the world around him – looking to the environment of urban and industrial modernity – which he transformed through his imaginative sense of theatre and intimate understanding of geometry and composition. These potent and intriguing images have become emblematic of 20th and 21st-century urban experience.
Until 15 May | National Gallery of Australia | nga.gov.au
Shakespeare to Winehouse: Icons from the National Portrait Gallery, London
From Shakespeare to Winehouse, Darwin to Dickens, the Beatles, Brontë sisters and Beckham, the National Portrait Gallery London holds the world’s most extensive collection of portraits. While they undergo the largest renovation of their building in 125 years, more than 80 treasures from their collection are on show in Canberra for this exclusive exhibition.
Until 17 July | National Portrait Gallery | portrait.gov.au
Fourth National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony
Ceremony remains central to the creative practice of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. From the intimate and personal to the collective and collaborative, ceremonies manifest through visual art, film, music and dance. This immersive exhibition and program of events will challenge and unsettle; animate and heal.
Through the work of 35 artists from around Australia, Ceremony reveals how the practice of ceremony is at the nexus of Country, culture and community.
Until 31 July | National Gallery of Australia | nga.gov.au
On Stage: Spotlight On our Performing Arts
This exhibition brings Australia’s performing arts history into the limelight, also providing a backstage pass to the action behind the scenes, showcasing perspectives on stage direction, costume design, scripts, contracts and musical scores used by performers.
Presented together for the first time and drawing exclusively from the collections of the National Library, the exhibition features items that have never before been on display. Other highlights include the earliest surviving Australian printed document, selections from the JC Williamson theatre archives, and other contemporary live music and theatre posters.
Until 7 August | National Library of Australia | nla.gov.au
Snow Gums
Snow Gums offers us a contemporary view of an ancient landscape. With his signature meticulous strokes, Yanni Pounartzis has created a richly layered statement about the spectacular snows gums of Ngunnawal Country.
The Snow Gums collection is a treatise on the Eucalypts in glorious colour inspired by the pigments and patterns of the natural world. The works are a pointed reminder of the magnificent beauty in the trees around us, which in the blur and busyness of urban life, are often overlooked and undervalued.
Now showing | Grainger Gallery, Dairy Road, Fyshwick | graingergallery.com.au
Markets
Pearce Crafters Markets
The Pearce Crafters ‘Autumn Leaves’ Market is happening this Saturday 23 April. Among the candles, jewellery, skin-care, pottery and other bespoke offerings that can be found at the market, there is also a stall dedicated to Days for Girls where people can learn more and donate directly to the organisation by buying a tote bag.
10 am–2 pm Saturday 23 April, Collett Place, Pearce | Pearce Community Centre | facebook.com
Old Bus Depot Markets
With more than 100 stalls (including your old favourites), you’ll have the chance to shop for a brilliant variety of Australian-made, handcrafted and premium products. And this week it’s Portobello Road—a chance to hunt for original antiques, jewellery and collectables.
9.30 am – 2.30 pm Sunday | Wentworth Avenue, Kingston | obdm.com.au
Haig Park Village Markets
Taking place every Sunday rain, hail or shine, the Haig Park Village Markets has fresh produce, beautiful flowers, artisan breads, meats, treats and more. You can even enjoy a picnic in the park before grabbing your essentials for the week!
9 am – 2 pm Sunday | Haig Park, Braddon | haigparkvillagemarkets.com.au
Capital Region Farmers Markets
With more than 100 stallholders each week, the Capital Region Farmers Market at EPIC Park has endless options when it comes to freshly picked, grown and handcrafted produce.
Fill the garden using their great selection of natives and landscape plants, fruit trees, seedlings and shrubs or fill your stomach with freshly baked bread, cakes, macarons and croissants.
7 am-11.30 am Saturday | Exhibition Park in Canberra | capitalregionfarmersmarket.com.au
Southside Farmers Markets
This village market is located at Canberra College, making it the perfect place to duck in to grab what you need (and maybe a few things you don’t). Order an egg and bacon roll to start the morning as you explore the best of fresh seasonal veggies, handmade pasta and pet treats.
8 am – 11.30 am Sunday | 2 Launceston Street, Phillip | facebook.com
Sport + Leisure
GWS Giants vs St Kilda
GWS Giants take on St Kilda at Manuka Oval in Round 6 of the competition. Get along to cheer on your team!
22 April | Manuka Oval | gwsgiants.com.au
