Here’s how to spend the first week of January 2025
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If you think there’s nothing to do in Canberra during the first week of January (or just summer in general), we’re here to prove you wrong.
Read on for all the fun things to do!
Special Events and Festivals
New Year’s Eve Canberra
Great food, music, and fireworks. New Year’s Eve is sorted.
Helping you to end your 2024 with a bang (literally), New Year’s Eve at Lake Burley Griffin is back for another year to light up the night with a stunning fireworks display on Tuesday 31 December. With two displays taking place at 9 pm and midnight as well as DJs, food trucks, and more, who wouldn’t want to ring in the New Year, lakeside?
Looking for more to do on New Year’s Eve? Here’s our handy guide to what’s on.
Tuesday 31 December, 6 pm | Lake Burley Griffin, Greenway | More information here.
Street Machine Summernats 37
Australia’s wildest horsepower party is back in Canberra. Held over four massive days at Exhibition Park, this annual, unique celebration of the modified car community promises a diverse, exciting, and engaging event that everyone will enjoy.
Head along to see competition-driving events, an elite hall, show and shine, drifting, trade show and exhibition, concerts, cruising, burnouts, and more. Don’t forget, Summernats is the year’s final showdown for the National Pro Burnouts!
Thursday 2 until Sunday 5 January, 9 am – 5 pm | Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC), Flemington Road &, Northbourne Avenue, Mitchell | More information here.
Braddon Fringe Festival
Watch as the Canberra CBD comes alive with the Braddon Fringe Festival!
Running alongside Summernats, Braddon will be taken over for an entrant-exclusive event. Think: it’s three nights of awesome cars parked up, great food and drinks, live music, and mates.
Thursday 2 until Sunday 5 January, 9 am – 5 pm | Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC), Flemington Road &, Northbourne Avenue, Mitchell | More information here.
Food and Wine
Tipsy Tea
Head along to Snapper & Co to enjoy a relaxed afternoon by the lake with bottomless prosecco and three signature cocktails.
All paired with a grazing station of traditional finger sandwiches and a selection of desserts, it’s the perfect way to end the work week.
Friday 3 January, 3 pm – 5 pm | Snapper & Co., Mariner Place, Yarralumla | Book here.
High Tea at Louis
Looking for a sophisticated and refined experience high tea experience? Nestled within the elegant confines of Hotel Realm, you can’t go past high tea at Louis.
Offering a meticulously curated array of delicate finger sandwiches, freshly baked scones, and an exquisite selection of pastries and desserts that showcase the finest craftsmanship (along with an impressive tea menu) it will be an occasion to remember.
Every Saturday, 2 pm – 4 pm | Louis, 18 National Circuit, Barton | Book here.
QTea High Tea x Space Kitchen
There’s no cucumber sandwich in sight at this high tea experience. And you better get excited because QT has partnered with Space Kitchen in what be the most delicious collaboration ever.
Taking their high tea offering to the next level, the QTea High Tea x Space Kitchen experience is all about indulgence – from the sweet to the savoury. Lock eyes with Canberra’s first cake trolley featuring Space Kitchen cakes, choose from 28 teas (along with the prettiest of cocktails featuring special brews) and dig into tiers of treats that include Wagyu bresaola bites and picture-perfect serves of duck liver parfait for decadent dining experience.
Every Saturday with sittings at 12 pm and 12.30 pm | 1 London Circuit, City | Book here.
Exhibitions
Richard Larter: Free Radical
Showing at ANU Drill Hall Gallery, this exhibition showcases the work of a founding father of Australian pop art.
Head along to see some of Richard Larter’s luminous abstract paintings (many painted in Canberra and Yass). While informed by his adventures in popular culture these works are also firmly rooted in the histories of abstraction, holding great concern for composition and the formal dynamic relationships of colour, shape, and line. Fluid, lyrical, and improvised, Larter’s work refers to the energies of place and the politics of the times.
Friday 3 until Sunday 19 January | ANU Drill Hall Gallery, 29 Kingsley Street, Acton | More information here.
Carol Jerrems: Portraits
Photographers, this one’s for you! This week, spend time learning about a key influential figure in Australia’s photographic history at the National Portrait Gallery’s latest exhibit – Carol Jerrems: Portraits. The exhibition showcases more than 140 photographs, drawn from the National Gallery of Australia, the National Library of Australia, and the National Portrait Gallery.
Expect to see photographs from her earlier work to her more famous works, including Vale Street 1975. Learn how her work defined the 1970s and the future of Australian photography while examining portraits of cultural figures like tennis legend Evonne Goolagong, fashion designer Linda Jackson, and author Bobbi Sykes.
Until Sunday 2 March | National Portrait Gallery, King Edward Terrace, Parkes | Book here.
Anne Dangar
Get lost in a world of swirls, squares, lines, and colours at the NGA’s free Anne Dangar exhibit.
This iconic Australian artist played an important part in bringing modern art to Australia in the twentieth century, and this exhibit allows locals a chance to browse her ceramics, paintings, archival material, and more in this major retrospective exhibition celebrating her life and art.
Until Sunday 27 April | National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Place East, Parkes | More information here.
Ethel Carrick
The National Gallery of Australia is continuing its focus on celebrating the work of all women artists, with its major exhibition Ethel Carrick. Post-impressionist art lovers will be excited to see 140 pieces by Carrick, in the first retrospective of her work for nearly half a century.
What’s even better? Entry is free, so you can visit as many times as you want!
Until Sunday 27 April | National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Place East, Parkes | More information here.
20 Years of Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Experience the wonder of two decades of award-winning nature photography as a new exhibition opens at the National Archives of Australia. 20 Years of Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year celebrates the winning entries from each year since its inception.
Conceived in 2004 by Dr. Stuart Miller AM, the competition aims to stoke the public’s fascination with the natural world and provide a platform for emerging and established photographers alike to showcase the remarkable flora, fauna, and landscapes of Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and New Guinea.
Until Sunday 27 April | National Archives of Australia, Kings Avenue, Parkes | More information here.
Pompeii
If seeing Pompeii in Italy is on your bucket list, mark your calendars for this one! The National Museum of Australia is showing its Pompeiiexhibit, featuring over 90 discovered objects from the ancient city before Mount Vesuvius erupted. This display in Canberra will be the first time some of these objects have been seen outside Europe!
Visitors will be taken into the exhibit with an engaging atmosphere created by large-scale digital projections and captivating soundscapes. Expect to see recovered jewellery, sculptures, pottery, frescoes, and other objects once used by this civilisation.
Until Sunday 4 May | National Museum of Australia, Lawson Crescent, Acton Peninsula, Acton | Book here.
Lindy Lee
Lindy Lee is one of Australia’s most accomplished contemporary artists. This exhibition brings together highlights from across the artist’s career as well as a monumental new installation and works on paper.
Exploring themes of ancestry, spirituality, the environment, and the cosmos, this display of new and recent works will shed light on Lee’s ever-evolving and ambitious practice.
Until Tuesday 1 July | National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Place East, Parkes | More information here.
Sport
Workday Canberra International 2025
World-class tennis, local music, and more – this is the sporting event of the season.
This is a great opportunity to witness world-class tennis up close and personal, as the next generation of Grand Slam champions use the event as a launchpad for their 2025 season. The tournament will include the introduction of Kids Tennis Day, and a full schedule of free activities to keep the whole family entertained!
Until Saturday 4 January, 11 am – 8 pm | Canberra Tennis Centre, 3 Riggall Place, Lyneham | Book here.
UC Capitals v Geelong United
The UC Capitals look to kick off the new year with a bang as they take on the Geelong United!
Welcome the Geelong United to Canberra for the first time in their inaugural WNBL season and get ready as Canberra’s most successful aims to blow the roof off the AIS.
Sunday 5 January, 12.30 pm – 2.30 pm | AIS Arena, 26 Leverrier Street, Bruce | Book here.
Yoga in the Gardens
Looking for a moment of zen? The Hyatt Hotel is holding yoga in the Lavender Courtyard every Saturday morning.
You can relax and stretch in the peaceful surroundings of their elegant gardens (which are located off The Tea Lounge) as senior yoga instructor, Nandhini Nagaratnam takes you through a class that focuses on strength, flexibility, health, and wellbeing.
Just make sure to bring your own mat!
Until Saturday 25 January, 7 am – 8 am | Hyatt Hotel, Commonwealth Avenue, Yarralumla | Book here.
Feature image: Supplied by Events ACT.
