A gin festival, pet-friendly Santa photos, and Grazing by the Garden: 20+ things to do in Canberra
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Another week, another 20+ things to pop into your diary.
From special events to food and film, here’s your guide to what’s on this week in Canberra.
Special events + festivals
Human Nature: A Christmas Celebration
Human Nature are coming back to Canberra with an exclusive Christmas Celebration that’s sure to have you embracing your inner festive spirit—singing and dancing your way into the 2022 holiday season.
Sing along to all the Christmas and holiday classics from their chart-topping Christmas album, including Let It Snow, White Christmas, O Holy Night and Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer intertwined with the some of the group’s most loved and requested songs.
Wednesday 14 December, 7:30 pm | The Canberra Theatre Centre | Tickets here.
Cultural Christmas Event
A delicious two course dinner (featuring chicken supreme with potato and pumpkin rosti, crispy salmon fillet with smashed garlic potato, apple crumble and more), Irish music and dancing and fabulous raffles—name a better way to celebrate the silly season?
Wednesday 14 December, 6:30 pm | Canberra Irish Club, 6 Parkinson Street, Weston | Book here.
Christmas in the City
Celebrate Christmas in the City as City Walk is transformed into ‘Christmas Walk’ with uniquely Canberran Christmas decorations, a 16-metre renewed tree, and a packed program of fantastic offers from local businesses.
Whether you’re popping out for a bit of Christmas shopping, celebrating with friends or getting that classic (sometimes stressful) family photo with Santa, there’s a bit of festive fun for everyone.
Until Saturday 24 December | City Walk, Canberra City | christmas.inthecity.com.au
Queens Christmas
Coming for one weekend only, Queens Christmas is a variety show dedicated to the naughty, and also to the nice. Zoo Bar has the finest, fittest and most Christmasy Queens. Dress up, show up, and be entertained with naughty or nice games and many prizes to be won. Expect a mix of diverse, intimate performances and a delicious food package to go alongside it.
Friday 16 until Saturday 17 December | Zoo Bar, London Circuit, Canberra City | Tickets here.
Pet-friendly Santa Photos
Want to get your furry friend in the Christmas spirit? Free, pet-friendly Santa Photos (with speical guest Mrs Claus) are being held at Dickson shops—complete with a Christmas-y backdrop. Want to know the best part? It’s free!
Festoons lighting and Christmas decorations will also be hung throughout the Dickson Shops with local community choirs bringing cheer to the shops every weekend while the Santa photos are operating.
Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 December | Dickson shops (next to the library) | facebook.com/events
Photobrick Design Workshop for Christmas
Want to make something special for a loved one? Join the adult workshop of Photobrick Art to produce one of three colourful and fun design options, just in time for Christmas gifting. Please book tickets individually and send your choice of design (flowers, bird or blue flower) to marketing@canberracentre.com.au upon booking.
Delicious refreshments will also be provided by L’Americano.
Saturday 17 December, 1 pm – 2 pm | Level 1, Monaro Mall (near David Jones) Canberra Centre | Tickets here.
Gingerfinch Christmas Market
Looking for some gorgeous, unique (last-minute) gifts? Bringing some Christmas cheer on the last weekend before the big day, Canberra-based online design retailer Gingerfinch will be hosting a market full of a curated selection of Australian and international design. Sourced from ethical and sustainability-focused makers and designers from across Australia and the world, design lovers will be in heaven.
Friday 16 December until Sunday 18 December, 10 am – 4 pm | 5 Geelong Street, Fyshwick | @gingerfinchhome
Haig Park Christmas Markets
Imagine a summer festive drinks garden, with Christmas themed market stalls, and culinary delicacies complete with a magical festive Christmas experience.
This week the Haig Park markets now have a Christmas-y twist! Starting from 9:00 am until 2:00pm, kids can craft their own Christmas ornaments to hang on the tree or grab a picture with Mr Claus himself! Expect culinary delicacies from around the region, fresh produce, Christmas hams, artisan products, mince pies, puddings, handmade jewellery, Christmas decorations and more – all of which will be setting the scene for a magical festive Christmas experience amongst the pines of Haig Park.
Saturday 11 December | Haig Park, Braddon | haigparkvillagemarkets.com.au
Canberra Potters 2022 Christmas Fair
When you’re looking for Christmas gifts, where can you go for something truly unique? The answer: the Canberra Potters Christmas Fair. Between the fair and the shop you’re sure to find the perfect gift at the perfect price, and you’ll know that you’re buying from a local maker. Browse a wonderful selection of ceramic art and pottery and enjoy coffee, cold drinks and poffertjes from Sylvie & Bruno.
Until Saturday 18 December, 10 am – 4 pm | 1 Aspinall St, Watson | canberrapotters.com.au
Food + wine
Christmas Gin Festival
It’s time to get you gin-gle bells on: the Christmas Gin Festival is back with even more distillers! Dress up and have some fun, as you sample G&T’s to take home and share over the festive season. Whether you like a dry gin or something a bit fruitier, you’re sure to find a winner (or a few)!
Friday 16 until Monday 18 December | National Convention Centre, 31 Constitution Ave, Canberra City | ginevents.com.au
Whisky Flights: Independent Bottlers of Black Gate Distillery
Join Black Gate owner and distillers Brian and Genise, along with ambassadors from independent bottling brands as they sit down and chat about the whisky and what makes a great indie bottling!
You’ll get the chance to taste seven whiskies from Independent bottlers, including Ambassador Whisky, Barrel and Batch, Dram Full and AWAS, Oak Barrel, and That Boutique-y Whisky Company while nibbling on cheese and charcuterie plates by First Edition. You will also get to try a very special dessert combining the talents of Jasper+Myrtle and That Boutique-y Whisky Company! Yum.
Wednesday 14 December | Novotel Canberra, 65 Northbourne Avenue, Canberra City | Book here.
The Wizard’s Den
Witches and wizards of Canberra, behold! Get ready to unleash your inner magical being as you brew potions, cast spells, and drink more mead than you can shake a wand at—at this pop-up bar, you’ll concoct devilish brews for good (or evil), all under the watchful eye of their wise potions master.
Until Tuesday 31 January 2023 | Zoo Bar, London Circuit, Canberra City | Tickets here.
Cressida Campbell: Grazing by the Garden
Inspired by Cressida Campbell’s love of gardens and shared food between friends, the National Gallery is hosting Grazing by the Garden. Design your own grazing experience and choose from a selection of delicious scones with ribbon sandwiches, local grazing boards or a rustic pizza flatbread prepared daily. Espresso coffee, specialty tea or wine and beer will also be available, perfect for a light lunch in the Gallery’s dining room with scenic views of the Sculpture Garden and Lake Burley Griffin.
Until Sunday 19 February 2023 | National Gallery of Australia | nga.gov.au
Exhibitions
Disrupt, persist, invent
Australia, home of the ‘fair go’. But is it really the free and fair place you’d hope for? What can we change? From noisy protest to quiet persistence, Disrupt, persist, invent explores the many ways people have achieved social change in Australia.
Pop into the National Archives of Australia to discover powerful stories of people and their actions, from the ordinary to the extraordinary.
Until Monday 12 June 2023 | National Archives of Australia | naa.gov.au
Feared and Revered: Feminine Power through the Ages
Celebrating the power and diversity of female spiritual beings in cultural traditions and beliefs across the globe, this exhibition explores how goddesses, demons, witches, spirits and saints have shaped our understanding of the world.
Featuring more than 160 objects from the British Museum’s exceptional collection, this is a timely exhibition that explores and questions feminine power, authority and identity.
Until Sunday 27 August 2023 | National Museum of Australia | nma.gov.au
Clean Slate: Isobel Rayson at the COX Gallery
In this series Isobel Rayson explores the emotional experience of wandering through rural landscapes, national parks or along beaches and the patterns and textures found on the surface of objects that surround her. Documented in photographs and sketches, Isobel considers how these details might translate into a woodblock carving later in her studio.
Until Friday 16 December, 9 am – 5 pm | 1/19 Eastlake Parade, Kingston | coxarchitecture.com.au
Swooming, Shimmering, Sparkling
Tuggeranong Arts Centre is swooning, shimmering, and sparkling its way to the end of 2022 with the Spring exhibitions, Swoon! We are Dizzy with JOY!, by Hands On Studio and All That Glitters by local artists Helen Braund, Tiffany Cole, Romany Fairall, Michele Grimston and Emma Rani Hodges.
Until Saturday 17 December | Tuggeranong Arts Centre, Tuggeranong | tuggeranongartscentre.com
Small Works 2022
This collection sees over eighty small-scale artworks across a range of mediums—paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, glass, ceramics and weaving—and it’s the perfect opportunity to take home an affordable piece by an artist that you’ve always loved or just discovered.
Until Friday 23 December | Beaver Galleries, 81 Denison Street, Deakin | beavergalleries.com.au
Pictures of You
Have you ever tried to explain it is to be YOU? To a friend, a partner, your family, a professional – even to yourself? Now imagine having a disability; of the prejudices that come with that, and the challenges of engaging people to look beyond the disability to the whole of your personality. This is the focus of the Pictures of You exhibition, which explores a unique approach to self-portrayals of people with lived experience of physical and mental health disabilities – collaborating as equals with a professional photographer to produce a portrait honestly reflecting the whole person.
Until Sunday 5 February 2023 | Belconnen Arts Centre, 118 Emu Bank, Belconnen | belcoarts.com.au
Viewfinder: Photography from the 1970s to Now
Featuring 125 images from the last 50 years, all uniquely captured by celebrated documentary photographers, Viewfinder is an exhibition that provides a fascinating glimpse into the changing face of Australia.
Walk through the exhibition and you’ll see the faces and stories of migrants, shearers, dancers, miners, gardeners, surfers, and bronzed bodies at the beach—but it also reveals how much photography has evolved over the years, from black and white captures to the vibrant high-definition images of today.
This is a reflective exhibition that can be enjoyed by all ages. Read more here.
Until Sunday 30 April 2023 | National Library of Australia | nla.gov.au
Stage + screen
Chat 10 looks 3 Live
Three years ago, it was fires. Two years ago, pandemic. Last year, Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb—flights cancelled due to Biblical rainstorms—raced by car against advancing floodwaters (but not driving into them of course because ABC emergency broadcasting says DON’T) to present their traditional Christmas show at the Llewellyn Hall.
What will it be this year? Crabb’s tipping a plague of locusts. Sales reckons twister. But nothing will stop this pair from taking the stage to review the year, tease ANU vice chancellor and host Brian Schmidt, and butcher The Twelve Days Of Christmas as per usual.
Saturday 17 December, 7:30 pm | Llewellyn Hall, Acton | Tickets here.
Sunset Cinema
Sunset cinema is back for summer and with even more screening nights, and food options (hello popcorn and burgers from the Hungry Brown Cow) you better be excited. Screening weekly Wednesday to Saturday until February 2023, it’s the perfect opportunity for movie lovers to bask in the warm nights while enjoying some of their favourite films.
Until Saturday 25 February 2023 | Australian National Botanic Gardens | sunsetcinema.com.au/canberra
Music
Gather ‘Round People: Celebrating Dr Kev Carmody with Electric Fields
‘Gather Round People’ is a celebration of esteemed First Nations Songman Kev Carmody who is being awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Australian National University! This free concert is headlined by award-winning duo Electric Fields and features Alinta Barlow, Jye Cole Hopkins, Dale Huddleston and Djinama Yilaga.
Wednesday 14 December | Manning Clark Hall, Kambri Cultural Centre, Tangney Road, Acton | dhg.anu.edu.au
Christmas in Ukraine
Head along to this special Christmas event as Phoenix Collective Quartet joins forces with Larissa Kovalchuk, a vocalist and bandura player from Ukraine. Expect music by Arvo Pärt, Tchaikowski and a rich selection of Ukrainian folk songs and carols.
Sunday 18 December | Wesley Uniting Church, 20-22 National Circuit, Forrest | luminescence.org.au
CBS Christmas Party Blues Jam hosted by Big Mama and The Hanged Men
It’s time to celebrate the end of another year and Big Mama and The Hanged Men are here to help! Forces of nature that have been carving up the Australian music scene with heart-stopping Blues, Soul and mighty Rock’n’Roll, expect a big afternoon full of music and fun.
Sunday 18 December | Harmonie German Club, 49 Jerrabomberra Avenue, Narrabundah | Tickets here.
Workshops, webinars + more
First Nations exhibition and symposium
Join Professor Brenda L. Croft, eminent guests and panel members in a two-day symposium centered on ‘Murrudha: Sovereign walks – tracking cultural actions through art, Country, language and music’ (2020 – 2025) and the exhibition ‘Still in my mind: Gurindji location, experience and visuality’.
Panels will explore and reflect on topics such as: contemporary and historical cultural sovereign actions, personal and collective reflections; ancestral obligations and cultural continuity; and oral history storytelling through song and language.
Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 December | Drill Hall Gallery, ANU School of Music, Kambri Cultural Precinct | dhg.anu.edu.au
Learning webinar: Women in Leadership
Uncover the histories of Australian women in leadership. Delivered via Zoom, this webinar from the National Library of Australia will demonstrate how to access and find information and resources on prominent Australian women, including manuscripts, online newspapers, online books and oral histories.
Wednesday 14 December | National Library of Australia, Parkes Place West, Parkes | nla.gov.au
