What's on in Canberra this November

As the weather warms, and the summer sunshine begins to come through, we created a list of all the fun things in Canberra you and your family can do.

Whether you love to watch comedians, bands, solo artists or musicals at the theatre, you love to get active and go on adventures, or you want to check out some historic or artistic exhibitions at the National Library, National Gallery or National Museum, we’ve got you sorted for the whole month with a range of options.

Did we mention The Wiggles are coming to the Canberra Southern Cross Club? And English comedian Rob Beckett is coming to the Canberra Theatre.

Check out all our favourite picks below:

The Wharf Revue: Looking for Albanese

When: Running at 7:30 pm daily, until 5 November, 2022
Where: Canberra Theatre Centre, Civic Square London Circuit, Canberra
Cost: $89, plus transaction fee. Tickets at Canberra Theatre Centre.

It’s a new dawn, a new day and a new captain at the helm of the ship of state. And what a state we’re in!

Inflation, rising interest rates, conflict in Ukraine, climate disaster, culture wars, COVID-19-20-21-22-23 and a looming World War Three – could things get any worse? Absolutely – Neighbours has finished!

But here’s one way to make things better: book your tickets to the Wharf Revue’s Looking for Albanese. Inspired by the new national spirit of optimism that lasted for a week, the team is as keen as mustard to tackle the big-picture issues (see above). The world is grim – what better time to have a laugh?

WHO ARE YOU: Australian Portraiture

When: Running daily until Sunday, 29 January, 2023
Where: National Portrait Gallery, King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Cost: Free, bookings not required.

The WHO ARE YOU: Australian Portraiture exhibit is a co-curated combination of collections from the National Gallery of Victoria and National Portrait Gallery.

It features 130 works across painting, film, photography, screenprinting and sculpture, and explores our inner worlds, outer selves, intimacy, isolation, celebrity and more.

You’ll see artists such as Patricia Piccinini, Atong Atem, Howard Arkley, Vincent Namatjira, John Nixon and Tracey Moffatt, superstar sitters like Albert Namatjira, Cate Blanchett, Queen Elizabeth II, David Gulpilil and Jeff the Wiggle.

John Brack, Nora Heysen, William Yang and Shirley Purdie will also be making an appearance. From head and shoulders to shape and text, this exhibition will have you thinking about the ever-evolving and ever-expanding idea of portraiture.

Mabo v Queensland (No. 2): 30th Anniversary

When: Running daily from 9 am to 5 pm, until 31 May 2023
Where: The National Library of Australia
Cost: Free.

The Mabo v Queensland (No. 2) decision was handed down in the High Court of Australia on 3 June, 1992.

‘‘Mabo’’, as it has come to be known, altered the foundation of land law in Australia. It provided official recognition of the inherent rights of Indigenous Australians to their traditional lands. In 2001, the Mabo Case Manuscripts were inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Mabo decision, the library invited Gail Mabo, Eddie’s daughter, to select material for display to mark this landmark moment in Australian legal history.

Now you’re invited to check out the display and grab a free booklet containing an interview with Gail about the significance of the library’s Mabo Collection.

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this display contains material that may be considered culturally sensitive, including the depictions of people who have passed away.

Kenneth Rowell: Designer for the Stage

When: Running daily from 9 am to 5pm, to 11 December, 2022
Where: Treasures Gallery at The National Library of Australia – Parkes Place, Canberra
Cost: Free.

The National Library’s new Collection-in-Focus exhibition highlights the work of Melbourne-born painter and designer Kenneth Rowell (1920-1999).

He lived and worked as an artist and theatre designer in London from 1952, frequently returning to work in Australia until 1982 when he moved back to Melbourne.

Rowell’s costume design archive comprises about 1400 designs for costumes and sets, as well as notebooks, sketchbooks, programs and photographs. It documents 87 productions he worked on between 1943 and 1993, often in collaboration with his wife, Victoria, who painted the fabric of his costumes.

While Rowell almost always designed both costumes and sets for a production, this exhibition showcases a selection of hand-drawn costume designs, as well as other items that give us a sense of his life in the theatre, who he was as an artist and the vast scope of theatre productions he was involved with in his lifetime.

Catherine Britt with Special Guest Tori Darke at Tallagandra Hill

When: Sunday, 6 November, at 5:30 pm
Where: 1692 Murrumbateman Road, Gundaroo
Cost: $42.23. Tickets available here.

Country sensation Catherine Britt is returning to the Tallagandra Hill Winery alongside former contestant on The Voice, Tori Darke.

Catherine is most known for her great songs and mighty fine singing, with a voice that instantly grabs your attention. She will be performing her new album, Home Truths, which is her first release in more than 20 years as an independent local artist.

After releasing six albums, being nominated for ARIA awards and a CMA Global Artist of the Year Award, Catherine will be bringing her talents to Tallangandra Hill.

The event will be held indoors, with food, wine and beer available for purchase.

Australian cybernetic: a point through time

When: Wednesday, 9 November, from 6 to 7 pm
Where: The National Library of Australia and livestreamed on the Library’s Facebook page
Cost: Free. Bookings essential. No bookings are required to watch the online stream.

Australian cybernetic: a point through time is a new exhibition at the Australian National University (ANU) that revisits both exhibitions and introduces reflections on contemporary approaches to cybernetics underway at the ANU.

At ANU School of Cybernetics, design is an essential component to thinking about complex systems and the relationships between them in order to imagine and enable new approaches to shaping the future through and with technology.

To showcase this, ANU’s Design Convenor at the School of Cybernetics, Andrew Meares, will be discussing how cybernetics investigates the interdependencies within and between systems, and how we can use this knowledge to ask questions and build intentionally towards the futures we want to see.

The Wiggles – Holiday Party Big Show Tour!

When: Thursday, 10 November, 10:30 am, 12:30 pm, 2:30 pm; and Friday, 11 November, 10:30 am and 12:30 pm
Where: Canberra Southern Cross Club, Woden, 92-96 Corinna St, Phillip
Cost: $42.05. Tickets at Ticketek.

The Wiggles are coming to the capital for one of their biggest parties of the festive season.

Kicking off their national tour this November at the Canberra Southern Cross Club, the two-day Holiday Party Big Show will see The Wiggles switch their big red car for a bright-red sleigh to celebrate the holidays.

After three decades, the end-of-year show has become a beloved tradition for families around the country. Anthony, Simon, Lachy and Tsehay will be joined by John, Caterina, Evie and new Blue Wiggle Lucia, following in the footsteps of her father, the original blue Wiggle, Anthony. Wearing a matching blue skivvy, Lucia will be joining him live on stage in the capital.

Cut-out-and-keep: magazines and the popularisation of Australian art in the 1950s and 1960s

When: Thursday, 10 November, from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
Where: The National Library of Australia and livestreamed on the Library’s Facebook page
Cost: Free. Bookings essential.

Join Dr Kate Warren as she presents her 2022 National Library Fellowship research into mid-century Australian magazines and their engagement with the visual arts.

Australian popular magazines of the mid-century era frequently covered, wrote about and supported Australian artists, spanning modes of engagement that ranged from the educational to the sensational.

This presentation will focus on how magazines appealed to audience engagement through their materiality and their use of developing printing technologies.

Artwork reproductions boomed during this time, and magazines actively encouraged their readers to materially intervene in their publications: for example, by cutting out articles and reproductions to be framed, scrapbooked and inserted into the personal domestic spaces that these magazines also helped to construct and define. As such, magazines sought to influence broader social ideas around the popularisation and perceived value of Australian art and culture.

Noiseworks – Take Me Back Tour

When: Thursday, 10 November, at 7:30 pm
Where: Canberra Theatre Centre, Civic Square, London Cct, Canberra
Cost: $79 – $89 plus transaction fee. Get tickets here.

The 1980s rock legends Noiseworks are back after 30 years with the original members, in honour of their guitarist Stuart “Chet” Fraser, who died in 2019.

In tribute to Chet, Jack Jones (former Southern Sons frontman) has joined the band on their national Take Me Back Tour. This will be Noiseworks’ only Canberra show, playing their classic hits Touch, No Lies, Hot Chilli Woman and of course Take Me Back.

Goanna – Celebrating 40 Years Of Spirit Of Place

When: 11 November, 2022, 7:30 pm
Where: Canberra Theatre Centre, Civic Square London Circuit, Canberra
Cost: $82.50 – $132.50 plus transaction fee. Tickets at Canberra Theatre Centre.

Forty years on, and with their messages of positive engagement in Indigenous rights and environmental protection more relevant than ever, Australian icons Goanna return to celebrate their multi-platinum, game-changing debut album Spirit of Place.

In the early ’80s, in the midst of Aussie rock’s golden age, Goanna helped forge a new Australian identity. Before Midnight Oil and Paul Kelly addressed similar issues, the iconic Solid Rock stoked a fire for Indigenous rights that hasn’t gone out, while the anthem of Let The Franklin Flow was a call to arms for the emerging environmental movement. Soulful, lyrical, brimming with musicality and creative volatility, Goanna mixed classic folk song craft with spirited roots rock, helping to establish a musical thread that remains vital and ubiquitous in Australian music today.

In 2022, Shane Howard, Rose Bygrave, Marcia Howard and Graham Davidge, with special guests, embark on a new journey to reignite the Goanna spirit once more and pay homage to their classic songs.

Queen Forever

When: Saturday, 12 November, dinner at 6 pm, show at 8 pm
Where: Canberra Southern Cross Club Woden, 92-96 Corinna Street, Phillip
Cost: Dinner and show $84.75, show-only $47.75, plus booking fee, book online.

The essence of Queen is captured perfectly by Queen Forever, fronted by a stunning portrayal of Freddie Mercury by the popular Gareth Hill.

Combined with Brian May’s unique guitar solos performed superbly by Scott Bastian, rich-sounding rock harmonies and authentic costumes, this highly entertaining stage show with state-of-the-art sound and lighting production promises to blow you away.

Queen Forever, who were established in Melbourne in 2006, will perform Queen’s biggest hits, including Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Radio GaGa, We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions and of course, Bohemian Rhapsody.

This event claims to be the closest you’ll get to Queen, and will include a two-course meal before the show.

Train rides at Canberra Miniature Railway

When: Sunday, 13 November, Sunday, 27 November, 10 am to 2:30 pm
Where: Canberra Miniature Railway, southern end of Jerrabomberra Ave, Symonston
Cost: $15 unlimited rides, book here.

Come along to the Canberra Miniature Railway from 10:30 am to enjoy train rides on two tracks with many different trains.

The canteen will also be open with hot and cold food options and coffee.

Children aged two and under are free – collect these tickets at the gate upon presentation of the child. Children aged four and under must ride with a responsible older person.

They’ll also be doing a special Train Rides at Dusk and in the Dark event on 19 November. The rides begin at 5:30 pm, but the fun begins at dusk and in the dark, when the incredible light show comes alive.

Many of the trains will have lights, but the greatest attractions are the animated lights around the tracks. They will be travelling beside, around and even under thousands of computer-controlled lights.

Waterways Country – Art Installations and Workshop

When: Monday, 14 November to Wednesday, 16 November, 9 am to 4:30 pm
Where: National Museum of Australia, Gandel Atrium bay windows
Cost: Free, no registration needed.

Explore the stories of Canberra’s waterways, come together to explore living better with water and learn how colonialism impacts Country.

As part of the Design Canberra Festival, Catchment Studio invites you to Waterways Country, a workshop series, symposium and art installations exploring our relationships with local waterways.

Accumulation and accretion: walking, listening and learning waterways – Amanda Stuart and Ellis Hutch create a layered installation exploring the material, creative and emotional complexities of waterways. Combining found objects, sound, video and drawings responding to Sullivans Creek in Ngunawal Country and the often-dry creeks of Mparntwe (Alice Springs) on Arrernte Country, the artists trace signs of watery life, from the microscopic to the discarded.

Interactive Workshop: Join artists Amanda Stuart and Ellis Hutch in Accumulations and Accretions for an interactive workshop, daily from 3:30 – 4:30 pm. Create your own object drawing of Canberra’s waterways and their microscopic life and add it to the installation. Free. Suitable for all ages.

Water Stories: Sammy Hawker and Paul Wyrwoll present an intriguing video installation tracing how the water cycle reveals the interconnectedness of Canberra’s (often hidden) waterways. Mapping our urban waterways as a series of joined flows, the work draws attention to the colonial mentality of concreting, damming, piping and channelling water into straight lines in order to discipline it to fit a city’s purpose.

Coal Miner’s Daughter

When: Tuesday, 15 November, at 7:30 pm.
Where: Canberra Theatre Centre, Civic Square, London Cct, Canberra
Cost: $79.90 plus transaction fee. Get tickets here.

Multi-awarded, look-alike songstress Amber Joy Poulton brings Coal Miner’s Daughter – the mega-hits and stories of inspirational pioneer and superstar Loretta Lynn, to Australia this year, following a sold-out national tour run in 2017.

Coal Miner’s Daughter includes ”friends” Lizzie Moore as Patsy Cline and Denis Surmon as Conway Twitty, accompanied by The Holy Men, in this sensational musical tribute to three legends.

Hits to expect include Coal Miner’s Daughter, Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind) and I Fall To Pieces. This is a show not to be missed!

Community Tennis Day

When: Sunday, 20 November, 10 am to 12 pm
Where: Tennis ACT, 1 Riggall Pl, Lyneham
Cost: Free.

To get the tennis season started, a free community event will be the place to check out and experience what the Summer of Tennis has in store. It will also be the official launch of the P2 Advisory Canberra International 2023.

This event will be action-packed, with something for everyone. Kids will have fun in free Tennis Hot Shots classes by Tennis World Canberra, ballkid activities, roaming characters, face painting and glitter tattoos. Plenty of activities will also be available for adults to enjoy, including Cardio Tennis classes and Pop Tennis.

Off court there will be a range of food options available, tunes from a local DJ and a chance to grab a photo with the Australian Open trophies.

To make things more exciting, the first 200 kids aged 12 or under who enter the gates will receive a free tennis racquet!

Consent on Trial: The fascinating case of the Maria Luz Incident (1872)

When: Tuesday, 22 November, from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
Where: The National Library of Australia and livestreamed on the Library’s Facebook page.
Cost: Free. Bookings essential. No bookings are required to watch the online stream.

Join Dr Bill Mihalopoulos as he presents his 2021 National Library Fellowship research into how Japan responded to the Maria Luz Incident of 1872.

That year, the fledgling Japanese government found itself embroiled in an international incident when asked to arbitrate whether 230 Chinese indentured ”coolies” on board the Peruvian bark Maria Luz, harboured in the foreign settlement port of Yokohama for repairs, were free labourers or slaves. Matters became even more challenging for the government when it was accused of tolerating domestic slavery in the institution of licensed prostitution.

In this presentation, Dr Mihalopoulos investigates how Japan responded to these challenges that crystallised around the so-called Maria Luz Incident, and uses the incident to investigate the rare moment when consent in contract – a fundamental concept that defines the modern world – was introduced and modelled in Japan.

An Evening with Richard E Grant

When: Wednesday, 23 November, 2022, at 7:30 pm
Where: Canberra Theatre Centre, Civic Square, London Cct, Canberra
Cost: $109 – $139 plus transaction fee. Get tickets here.

Since his breakout role in cult classic film Withnail and I in 1987, Richard E Grant has become a much-loved fixture on our screens, starring in everything from Doctor Who to Downton Abbey via Game of Thrones, Star Wars and Spice World and Oscar-nominated for his 2018 role in Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Now, join him for this unique event as he tells stories from his life, entwining tales from his extraordinary time in showbiz with uplifting reflections on love and loss, to celebrate the publication of his new book, A Pocketful of Happiness.

Live on stage, Richard will consider the inspiration behind the book – how, when his beloved wife, Joan, died in 2021 after almost 40 years together, she set him a challenge: to find a pocketful of happiness in every day. He found the instruction to be profoundly powerful, and this new book, drawing on both contemporary stories and recollections of his remarkable life and glittering career, is Richard’s way of honouring that challenge.

CSO: Infinite Possibilities

When: Wednesday and Thursday, 23 and 24 November, 7:30 pm
Where: Llewellyn Hall, ANU School of Music
Cost: $30 – $101, available via the CSO website.

This program opens with a new CSO commission by Leah Curtis, a Los Angeles-based composer with Canberra roots. Curtis is best known for her original film scores and soundtracks, collaborations she describes as ”work of the head, the heart and the gut; work of instinct, of intellect and of curiosity … to create a memorable emotional journey”.

Then, we return to the seemingly infinite imagination of Igor Stravinsky. Following hot on the heels of the Firebird Suite, Petrushka narrates the escapades of three puppets (Petrushka the rascally ringleader), set in a traditional Shrovetide fairground. This is one of the composer’s most colourful, inventive and wide-ranging scores, steeped in the Russian folk tradition and yet suggestive of the emerging film medium in its musical ”jump cuts” and scene changes.

Like Stravinsky, Jean Sibelius draws extensively on folk traditions, his Violin Concerto described by the American critic Olin Downes as ”bardic songs heard against a background of torches … in some wild Northern night”. It’s a work of striking contrasts: hypnotic, darkened hues electrified by blinding lights.

The opening stillness reflects the calm of a Finnish lake; time stands still in the ambiguous harmony, both major and minor. There’s something inherently organic in Sibelius: he responds with an exceptional intensity to the natural world, even by Nordic standards, as though its changing moods and seasons inspire not only the content of his music but also its form.

Featuring the Canberra Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jessica Cottis, with special guest Markiyan Melnychenko (violin).

Rob Beckett – Wallop!

When: 25 November, 2022, 8 pm
Where: Canberra Theatre Centre, Civic Square London Circuit, Canberra
Cost: $79.90 plus transaction fee. Tickets at Canberra Theatre Centre.

English comedian Rob Beckett is touring Australia for the first time, and is making a stop in Canberra.

He is one of the UK’s top-10 comedians, and the star of BAFTA-nominated Rob and Romesh Vs, Live At The Apollo, Would I Lie To You?, 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, and Mock The Week. He is also the host of a popular podcast called Parenting Hell, co-presented with Josh Widdicombe, which has had more than 25 million downloads.

The Colour of Fire: Australia and China in the theatre 1980-2020

When: Thursday, 24 November, 2o22, from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
Where: The National Library of Australia and livestreamed on the Library’s Facebook page.
Cost: Free. Bookings essential.

Join Professor Anne Pender as she presents her 2021 National Library Fellowship research on Australian theatre productions touring to China from the 1980s onwards, and the development of this cultural relationship.

On 19 September, 1987, the first Australian play, Jack Hibberd’s A Stretch of the Imagination, was performed in Shanghai, China, with remarkable success. This early performance was part of a transformational cultural relationship between Australia and China through the exchange of key theatrical productions from the early 1980s until the present.

Professor Pender examines Australian productions touring to China, exploring the cultural context for such exchanges and tours, the reception in both countries for the productions, their generative effect on theatre in various settings, and the evolution of the cultural relationship between the two countries over the longer term. Her research also explores for the first time theatrical productions that have been important in the development of the cultural relationship between Australia and China, and seeks to understand the complex cultural relationship between the two countries through the dialogue enabled via these cultural exchanges during a period of transformation.