Five 2026 Craft + Design Canberra Festival events not to miss
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The Craft + Design Canberra Festival is finally here, and there’s plenty to fill your days.
Showcasing the work of more than 500 artists, makers, designers and creative thinkers from Thursday 5 to Sunday 15 November, this year’s program is overflowing with things to do. With so much happening, we’ve decided to break down the top five unmissable events that deserve a spot in your calendar.
But this is only a glimpse into 130 activations taking over Canberra.
Check out the full program to explore the events, exhibitions, markets, open studios, performances, public artworks, symposiums, talks, tours and workshops happening across the city!
2026 Craft + Design Canberra Festival Launch + Exhibition Openings
The official kick-off for the festival not only marks the beginning of the 10-day program, but also includes the opening of five exciting exhibitions.
NEST | Design for a Displaced Future is a major public art commission bringing together a series of individual sculptural works exploring the universal instinct to nest, connect and belong. Soft Matter presents ceramic artworks that challenge social and material hierarchies, crossing boundaries between craft, sculpture and still life, while EMERGENCY: Signal, Repair, Adapt examines what it means to make objects in a time of disruption.
The National Robert Foster Metal Prize showcases outstanding contemporary metalwork – highlighting how imagination, skilled making, thoughtful design and material exploration can shape the ways we see and engage with the world around us – and Small Rituals | Hand Carved, Handheld is all about the power of slow making.
Thursday 5 November, 6 pm – 9 pm | Civic Square and Craft + Design Canberra, 180 London Circuit, City | Register here.
Dissent by Design Symposium
This exciting event features the voices of Alison Page, Tal Fitzpatrick, Anna Madeleine Raupach, Rob Hopkins, Mammalian Diving Reflex (Isabel Ahat + Fjoralba Qerimaj), and Tamzin Nugent.
Exploring creativity as a form of dissent, Dissent by Design will look at the way artists, designers, activists and storytellers use their practice to resist, imagine and rebuild.
The talks and conversations take place across an afternoon asking how the work of designing, building, making and imagining becomes a powerful response to climate pressure, social injustice and unsustainable systems and how making itself can be an act of witness and resistance.
Friday 6 November, 1 pm – 4.30 pm | National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, 1 McCoy Circuit, Acton | Book here.
Canberra Open Homes – CIT Woden Tour
Ever wondered how the CIT Woden Campus and Transport Interchange became one of Canberra’s most remarkable contemporary buildings?
This tour will take you through the 22,500 square metre, 6 Star Green Star education precinct, exploring everything from the Callum Street façade to the Level 5 Sky Country student commons.
Led by Australian architecture and design practice Gray Puksand, it’s a unique insight into the award-winning project.
Monday 9 November, 5.30 pm – 6.30 pm | 36 Bradley Street, Phillip | Book here.
Textile Transformation | Radical Rugs with Henry Shawcross
Why not explore the history of protest through the traditional craft of rag rugging?
In this workshop, you’ll choose a word or symbol of protest or dissent, drawing your design onto a piece of hessian. Then, you’ll cut recycled t-shirts into strips and learn the traditional “hooky” rag rugging technique, attaching the fabric strips to your hessian backing to bring your design to life.
The workshop is designed for all experience levels, and all you’ll need is an old t-shirt and some basic sewing skills!
Monday 9 November, 5.30 pm – 8 pm | Craft + Design Canberra, Level 1 North Building, 180 London Circuit, City | Book here.
Nightwalks with Teenagers
Nightwalks with Teenagers marks the inaugural collaboration of acclaimed international performance company Mammalian Diving Reflex and Canberra Youth Theatre.
The walking performance will take to the streets across three nights, unveiling a hidden side to Canberra and inviting audiences to surrender control, follow unfamiliar routes, and experience the city through perspectives they may not usually encounter.
Empowering young people as public storytellers, you’ll dance, laugh, run, walk and parkour your way through Canberra’s urban playground.
Thursday 12, Friday 13 and Saturday 14 November | Civic, meeting in Glebe Park and ending in Haig Park | Book here.
Wing It! A Children’s Atelier for Hatchlings of Change
This one is for the families. Wing It! is an immersive children’s atelier that celebrates creativity as an act of Dissent, designed to help young ‘hatchlings’ ready to test boundaries and reimagine possibilities.
Inviting children to experiment with UV paint, recycled car parts, splatter tools, loose construction materials, light, motion and sound in a dynamic, open-ended studio, it will embrace their natural inclination to push, test, question, break apart, rebuild and transform materials.
Thursday 12 November 10 am – 11.30 am and 1 pm – 3.30 pm | The Learning Nest Co., Reed Street North, Greenway | Book here.
Canberra Open Homes – War Memorial Tour
This exclusive guided tour is hosted by architect Edward Salib, one of the minds behind the Australian War Memorial’s New Entrance.
The tour will explore how contemporary architecture can honour heritage (while also creating a more accessible and welcoming experience), offering insights into the design thinking behind the new entrance and Oculus.
Touching on everything from the interplay of natural light and materiality to the careful integration of new spaces within one of Australia’s most significant cultural landmarks, go along to experience the project through the perspective of its architect.
Saturday 14 November, 2.30 – 3.30 pm | Australian War Memorial Treloar Crescent, Campbell | Book here.
Closing Party | Dance of Dissent
Send out the Craft + Design Canberra Festival with a bang by spending an evening filled with dance and celebration under the night sky.
Curated by acclaimed dance artist Liz Lea, the Dance of Dissent will bring the festival theme to life through the human body. The evening will open with a series of solo performances by leading female dancers, with each distinct act of creative resistance shown through movement, costume, and presence.
It will close with an ensemble work by the Chamaeleon Collective – don’t miss Yolanda Lowatta’s acclaimed solo ESSOR, presented in partnership with Australian Dance Party.
Saturday 14 November, 6 pm – 8 pm | National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, 1 McCoy Circuit, Acton | Book here.
Images supplied.
