Back to 2016: The Tumblr Era Party
A nostalgic 2016 throwback party packed with Tumblr-era fashion, viral hits, polaroid moments and social-media chaos.
Take it back to a simpler time, when everyone had a choker, every caption was a Drake lyric, Snapchat dog filters were peak technology, and every night somehow ended with Closer by The Chainsmokers.
Back to 2016: The Tumblr Era Party is a full night dedicated to the songs, outfits, chaos and questionable aesthetic choices that raised a generation.
Dress like it is 2016 again. Think flower crowns, chokers, denim jackets, bomber jackets, skinny jeans, festival fits, flannels, Adidas Superstars, Kylie Lip Kit energy, messy buns, round sunnies, Tumblr soft grunge and "good vibes only" everything.
Expect a massive night of 2016 throwback anthems, pop chaos, club classics, guilty pleasures and songs you definitely once used as an Instagram caption.
From Justin Bieber, Drake, Rihanna and The Chainsmokers to Calvin Harris, Major Lazer, Ariana Grande, Fifth Harmony, Sia, DNCE, Zara Larsson, Flo Rida, Nick Jonas, Twenty One Pilots, Sean Paul and more, this is your chance to relive the soundtrack of the era.
Charge your iPhone 6, fix your side part and put your flash on. It's time to go back.
Dress code: Your 2016 self.
This is an 18+ event.
Fuego Pre-Fiesta is bringing a night of Latin music and dancing to Highball, setting the tone for a huge weekend of celebration as part of Canberra's La Fiesta Fringe Program.
Featuring local Canberra DJ Nat, the night will deliver a soundtrack of reggaeton and Latin hits, bringing the energy of Latin nightlife to the city.
Highball will host a late-night celebration of Latin culture, music, dancing and community, kicking off the festival weekend in style.
The Canberra Kinetic Sculpture Race is a thrilling one-day celebration of human-powered inventions, playful engineering, and imaginative design. Held at the National Carillon, the Race brings together teams who have each created a kinetic sculpture capable of traveling across land, sand, and water. These machines are part artwork, part vehicle, and entirely powered by human energy. Come, witness the true magnificence as the sculptures enter the water and cross the sand. Take a peek inside these machines and talk to the artists who will inspire you and your next build.
Blending art, engineering, pageantry, and speed, the Race offers a vibrant spectacle for audiences of all ages. Visitors can explore the sculptures up close, meet the makers, and watch the creations navigate the unique tri-terrain course. No two machines are alike: each team brings their own creativity, humour, and design ingenuity, resulting in a colourful display of moving sculptures that reflect Canberra's inventive spirit.
The event is free to attend and designed to be accessible for visitors of all abilities. The Canberra Kinetic Sculpture Race positions the city as a leader in imaginative, human-centered design and celebrates the extraordinary creativity found within Canberra's vibrant design community. Join the fun by being part of a team or coming out to watch it all happen!
ALTER is a double bill of extraordinary dance and design exploring the interplay between body, identity and cross-cultural exchange. This cross-cultural collaboration between Australian and Malaysian artists is a beautiful offering of ephemeral visual art, illustrating the power of dissent through real and alternate realities.
ALTER is a presentation of two new works at Belco Arts, epitomising excellence in Canberra centred creativity. Led by Canberra artists of international repute in collaboration with leading ASEAN artists from Kuala Lumpur, a current UNESCO City of Design, both works have been supported by Creative Australia funding.
Born of design and innovation, ALTER is a double bill of dance works exploring the potential of new design technology in the interplay between body, identity and cross cultural exchange. Drawing on 35 years of Liz Lea's specialisation in classical Indian and contemporary dance, as well as focused research into the power of the Metaverse as an accretive design tool, ALTER brings technology to the fore to enable symbiotic interaction between real and virtual bodies, where movement creates visuals in a projected environment.
ALTER is presented by The BOLD Festival and Liz Lea Creates as part of the 2026 Craft + Design Festival, supported by ACT Government and Creative Australia.
Four talented musical improvisers and one pianist craft an original musical out of thin air!
A brand-new story unfolds in real time, packed with characters, comedy, and songs created on the spot. Fast, playful, and fully committed, every performance is a musical that has never existed before and will never exist again.
This is an Impro ACT production directed by Mike NL, returning after a sold-out debut.
Starring Chonnie, Damian, Inez, and Matt, with Jessica on piano.
Following a string of sold-out shows across Australia, Khaled Khalafalla returns with a new show that evolves to meet the moment.
With every performance, Khaled has built a following of people who've left his shows laughing, gasping, and finally seeing their own unspoken thoughts woven into the stories on stage.
It's honest. It's (mostly) clean. It's hilarious.
You'll laugh a lot. But more importantly, you'll leave thinking about it on the way home.
After selling out theatres around the country, tickets are expected to sell quickly. Early booking is recommended.
Lebanese-born singer Lamia Yared and Spanish multi-instrumentalist Efrén López perform music from the Arab world and medieval Iberia.
Drawing on Yared's Syriac-Maronite heritage and her deep immersion in Arabic, Ottoman, Persian, and medieval repertoires, the program weaves together 4th-century Syriac hymns, Aleppine Muwashahāt, medieval Iberian song, Sufi poetry, and a rare 13th-century composition by Safi al-Din al-Urmawi, one of the great theorists of Middle Eastern music.
At once intimate, scholarly, and deeply expressive, From Minho to Euphrates invites listeners into a shared human story: one in which Christian hymns, Sufi poetry, courtly song, and ancient modal traditions continue to speak to one another across time.
As part of the La Fiesta Fringe Program, spend a full day in intimate, hands-on workshops exploring the music, dance, rhythm and cultural traditions of Latin America.
The program brings together visiting artists from SENES Flamenco, Suns of Mercury and iLe iLu, alongside Canberra collaborators, for extended sessions in flamenco, Cuban percussion and dance, batá, pandeiro and Samba rhythms.
At Latin Dance Canberra, SENES Flamenco leads a morning of flamenco dance, music and rhythm, including beginner and intermediate sessions with live accompaniment.
At Blank Cultural Platform, Adrian Hearn, Aloy Junco and Rodolfo "Panga" Hechavarría from Suns of Mercury lead an immersive Cuban percussion and dance workshop exploring rhythm, movement, batá, rumba and Afro-Cuban cultural traditions.
The day concludes with Pandeiro + Samba and Beyond!, led by Mestre Loki from Movimento Alto + Capoeira Angola and assisted by Raio de Sol, exploring samba, pandeiro, and their place in Brazilian music and culture.
These are more than technique classes. Each workshop combines practical participation with cultural and historical context, giving participants a deeper understanding of the traditions, communities and stories behind the music.
Come for one workshop, or make a full day of it.
This event is independently organised as part of the La Fiesta Fringe Program and is not an official La Fiesta Festival event.
Capital Performing Arts Warehouse and City Renewal Authority present Circus Anywhere: Circus in the City!
Free workshops, shows, and roving entertainment from now until June 2027.
All in Canberra City: Garema Place, Glebe Park, Hobart Place, and Braddon all come alive with amazing circus activities for everybody and every body!
With activities from Warehouse Circus, Warehouse Entertainment, Hand to Hand Academy, and professional, internationally touring street artists delivering fun shows for the whole family.
Check out the link, follow the calendar, and get yourself to the city and indulge some Civic pride today!
Finally, a good answer to the never-ending when-are-we-catching-up? in the chat.
Zoë Foster Blake loves a group chat. And a girl's trip. And boy, does she love her girlfriends. So much so that she wrote her new novel, Group Caht about these exact things.
Please join her this November to celebrate the chaos, splendour and undeniable magic of female friendships as she tours Australia to launch her new book.
David Rovics and Kamala Emanuel are back in Australia for their 2026 Ministry of Culture Tour.
David Rovics is an American singer-songwriter whose music brings history, resistance and peaceful protest to life. Through powerful storytelling, his songs explore struggles across generations, offering fresh perspectives on the world today.
Some of Rovics' songs have been deemed too controversial for YouTube. Experience his music live and uncensored at Dissent Bar, Canberra.
BOLD Dissent '26 brings together Canberra's arts leaders of international standing with nationally and internationally acclaimed artists, inviting creatives living with and without disability to speak about their experience of dissenting from convention through dance and design.
Celebrating the power of Dissent, BOLD '26 delivers talks, performances and thoughtful provocation from acclaimed dance artists and academics championing groundbreaking creativity. The program challenges and provokes, inviting audiences to embrace new ways of thinking about creative practice.
Patron Dr Elizabeth Cameron Dalman AM will open BOLD Dissent '26 and the symposium will close with a screening of a new film by award winning dance filmmaker Sue Healey.
Speakers include Dan Daw, Marc Brew, Tammi Gissell, Yolanda Lowatta, Anca Frankenhauser, Jody Sperling, Dr Alex L Bruni, Natsuko Yonezawa, Sydney Dance Company and Bangarra Dance Theatre.
Performances will be presented by Canberra Dance Theatre's GOLD Company, ZEST Dance for Wellbeing, the Chamaeleon Collective and The Stellar Company.
All events will be accompanied by Auslan interpretation and Audio Description.
