Art IRL, steampunk and markets galore: Here are 20 ways to spend your weekend
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The end of another gloriously short work week calls for a celebration, Canberra!
What will your weekend celebration be? A glass of something delicious at Dairy Road Market? A night of razor-sharp theatre at White Pearl? Browsing the stalls of Handmade Market? Perhaps a Steampunk Festival in Nimmitabel is more your speed?
Whatever takes your fancy, you’ll find it in this round up.
Art IRL 2022
Image supplied by NGA.
Are you a young art lover craving some unique creative experiences? Get your art fix at the National Gallery in Kamberri/Canberra on Saturday, 30 Apr 2022 at Art IRL (feature image) where, from 6–9 pm, where there will be live art activations, performances, music, snacks and much more. Create, dance, think and make some noise with guest artists and other young people, aged 15-25.
Enjoy free, VIP access to all exhibitions including Jeffrey Smart. Art IRL is for people aged 15-25 and is a drug and alcohol-free event.
Saturday 30 April from 6–9 pm | National Gallery of Australia | All events are free. Bookings are essential at nga.gov.au
White Pearl
White Pearl. Credit: Rene Vaile.
A ‘blisteringly funny satire’ (Time Out) by one of Australia’s most exciting young playwrights, White Pearl (feature image) returns after its sold-out 2019 Australian premiere with The National Theatre of Parramatta and acclaimed productions in London and Washington D.C.
Things are heating up in the oh-so-cool Singapore headquarters of Clearday™, an upstart player in the Asian skincare game. Sales of their new range – ‘White Pearl’ skin-whitening cream – are going through the roof, and the ambitious team of young women have their eyes to the sky.
That is, until their new TV commercial is leaked online and starts going viral for all the wrong reasons. As the views climb, the mood in the office nosedives and the team scrambles to contain the fallout and save more than just their jobs in the process.
27–30 April | Canberra Theatre Centre | canberratheatrecentre.com.au
Attitude@Altitude: Nimmitabel’s Steampunk@Altitude Festival 2022
It’s on! Steampunk@ Altitude Festival Nimmitabel is on 30 April and 1 May 2022. Highland and lowland travellers from near and far are convening at the Festival to admire, compare and compete.
Steampunk celebrates a fictionalised version of history and now, based on the Victorian Steam era and Wild West themes; there are no limits to one’s imagination to be in the genre. The Monaro village of Nimmitabel, at 1100m, is the perfect Autumn destination for the Steampunk@Altitude Festival with it’s 1880s buildings on the Great Dividing Range.
Over the two days, there will be games and activities for all ages, fine wares to purchase, exhibits to see, and tea to sip. Music to appreciate and even dance to from time to time. Vendors exhibiting their wares, wholesome foods and refreshing beverages; competitions and escape experiences to be had.
Various locations in Nimmitabel, NSW | 30 April –1 May | www.steampunk.in
Dairy Road Market
The market brings together local wineries offering tastings and sales, art and crafts by CraftACT members, facilitated object play, handmade objects, vintage clothing, jazz and funk from Micah Heathwood quartet, and the traders of Dairy Road.
Tickets for the markets are free, or $12 with a Cellar Door stemless wine glass for tastings and use at home. Tickets are available on Humanitix and on the Dairy Road Market Facebook page.
12 pm–5 pm Sunday 1 May | Dairy Road Gardens, 1 Dairy Road, Fyshwick | events.humanitix.com
An evening with Lo Carmen: Lovers Dreamers Fighters
Join Australian cult singer-songwriter and AFI nominated actor, Lo Carmen, for a special evening at the National Library.
Over a two-course dinner in Bookplate, with Contentious Character matched wines, learn more about this critically acclaimed artist’s story which will include an intimate musical performance of songs featured in her debut memoir, Lovers Dreamers Fighters.
Bookings are essential for this special event with numbers strictly limited. Ticket price includes the two-course dinner in Bookplate with matched wines, and also secures your seat at the free author talk with Lo earlier in the evening in the Theatre at 6 pm.
Friday 29 April from 7.30–9 pm | National Library of Australia | nla.gov.au
Roger Beale AO: The Magic of Light, a Solo Exhibition
Image: Roger Beale AO, 2021, Floriade Poppy Field, Oil on canvas,114cmx152cm Image: Artist supplied
Entranced by the way light, especially warm slanting light, brings flowers, landscapes and people to life, Beale’s Solo Exhibition of over sixty works include large-scale oil paintings of flowers amongst powerful and nostalgic landscapes, portrait sketches and detailed pen and ink drawings.
Subjects include Paris’s famous Luxembourg Gardens in Spring, café portraits of the characters of the 6th arrondissement in the heart of Paris’s left bank (Rive Gauche), through vertiginous vineyards in Piedmont to moody memories of Sicily. And, of course, a revel of glorious blooms from our spring and summer.
Online catalogue available via the website.
Saturday 30 April to Sunday 29 May | Humble House gallery, 93 Wollongong Street, Fyshwick | humblehouse.com.au
The Taste Festival
Get ready to experience Australia’s best wine, spirits, cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages. All to be tasted and enjoyed whilst indulging in generous ‘walk & fork’ gourmet plates and live entertainment at Casino Canberra.
Five sessions will be held over four days and include a welcome glass of bubbles followed by endless boutique wine and spirits.
28 April–1 May | Casino Canberra | Tickets via Eventbrite
SIX
Credit: James D Morgan/Getty Images.
International smash-hit pop musical SIX lands in Canberra tomorrow night! 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.
23 April–15 May | Canberra Theatre Centre | canberratheatrecentre.com.au
Gingerfinch’s Colour Story design store pop up
Gingerfinch’s showroom. Credit: Jessica Di Scipio.
This weekend, you’ll have the chance to shop online design store Gingerfinch’s range in real life at Colour Story—a pop-up exhibition and market held from Friday 29 April to Sunday 1 May at Gingerfinch’s Fyshwick studio.
Showcasing the works of seven Australian artists and craftspeople, Colour Story will feature works by Denise Hojdyssek, Lymesmith, Sarah Annand, Tiarna Herczeg, Madeline Cardone, Clyde Arnott and Louis Grant and will focus on how colour impacts our life.
The exhibition will be held alongside a marketplace of Gingerfinch’s wares—the first-in person shopping experience the brand has offered.
Colour Story’s opening night on Friday 29 April will also feature delicious drops from The Pop Inn, whose roaming wine van will be parked outside.
Saturday 30 April and Sunday 1 May | 10 am – 4 pm | 5 Geelong Street, Fyshwick | hercanberra.com.au/style/home-design/a-colourful-pop-up-market-and-exhibition-comes-to-fyshwick-this-weekend
Ausdance ACT 2022 Australian Dance Week
Australian Dance Party, Symbiosis. Photography: Lorna Sim.
Ausdance ACT curates an annual umbrella festival of events for Australian Dance Week, highlighting a thriving and diverse local dance scene from studio classes, workshops, and activities for all ages with loads of free classes and showings.
Many local studios, dance artists and arts centres offer free, trial and taster dance classes during Australian Dance Week. This is the time to get out and try a new dance experience, see a show, take a class, and celebrate dance. Plan your week by checking out the program.
Friday 29 April–Sunday 8 May | various venues | ausdanceact.org.au/adw-2022
Handmade Canberra Markets
Handmade Canberra Markets make a welcome return after two years of online trading. With more than 220 designers and producers selling their wares and a gourmet food hall full of street food vans and producers, it’s the perfect time to grab a Mother’s Day present or just support small businesses that have survived a challenging two years.
10 am–4 pm Saturday 30 April and Sunday 1 May | Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC), Mitchell | handmadecanberra.com.au
Brindabella Sunset
In conjunction with the Canberra and Region Heritage Festival 2022 Strathnairn Arts presents Brindabella Sunset.
Food, drinks, live music, sunset and stars. Watch the sunset over the Brindabellas, while you enjoy live music, mulled wine and a pizza or mezze box by Cafe Stepping Stone.
Pre-order dinner or bring your own picnic. (Drinks, mulled wine, hot chocolate, beer, wine, non-alcoholic options, dessert and snacks will be available).
Sunday 1 May from 4–6 pm | Strathnairn Arts | strathnairn.com.au
Canberra International Music Festival
Ike(from)Pluto. Credit: Oli Winseng.
Intimate performances, exceptional musicianship, in some of the capital’s most iconic settings. It’s classical music, and more.
The program includes early music, contemporary music, world music and occasionally a hint of jazz.
29 April–8 May | Various locations | cimf.org.au
Heritage Festival (Final weekend!)
Jumptown Swing dancers at Lanyon.
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
Zero Waste Festival 2022
They’re Canberra locals who are making it easy for us all to take a step towards zero waste.
Canberra’s Zero Waste Festival will be on this Saturday, 11 am – 4 pm at Kambri, the ANU. The festival features speaker panels, stalls, workshops, a giant clothes swap and children’s activities.
Feeling guilty about all that covid-19 waste? Bring your single-use face masks to the festival and zero waste revolution will send them off to be recycled. Take your unusual toiletry items, like toothpaste tubes and dental floss containers and zero waste revolution will also send these off for recycling.
Entry is free. Register for workshops and the clothes swap, as they have a small fee to cover costs.
Saturday 30 April | 11 am – 4 pm at Kambri, ANU | zerowasterevolution.net
K Pop Club night
Reload Bar & Games hosts its first K Pop Club night—a night dedicated to the best of K Pop! Featuring popular DJs Star1 & Zet plus dance performances from K Rush ! Get set to dance to your favourite K-Pop tunes!
8:30 pm – late, Friday 29 April 2022 | Reload Bar & Games, 38 Northbourne Ave, Canberra City | facebook.com
One Night in Cuba
Put on your dancing shoes to dance to dance the night away to tropical Caribbean sounds that will make you feel as if you were in Cuba (or Puerto Rico, Colombia, Peru, Chile or New York).
Featuring Latin DJs and Mi Tierra, with their mix of salsa, cumbia, bachata, cha cha cha, merengue and many more. There’ll also be 30 minutes of Merengue lessons, and a Merengue dance competition will see couples compete to take home some amazing prizes.
7 pm – late, Saturday 30 April | The Australian Croatian Club, 68 McCaughey St Turner | trybooking.com
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
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
Jeffrey Smart (Final weeks!)
Jeffrey Smart, Self portrait, Procida, 1950-51, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2016, © The Estate of 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.
Want to take your experience to the next level? Why not book a private tour?
Until 15 May | National Gallery of Australia | nga.gov.au
Brumbies vs Hurricanes
The Brumbies take on the Hurricanes from Wellington in round 11 of the Super Rugby Pacific competition.
Food and beverages available to the public, including gluten-free and vegetarian options.
Gates open 12 noon, main game kick off at 2 pm | GIO Stadium | Tickets from Ticketek
