Monday 9th December

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Hello Canberra,

📆 Today: Carols in Tuggeranong + the Museum's new exhibition.

⛅️ Weather: 28° and partly cloudy.

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Opening Soon: 🌋 Pompeii at the National Museum

The National Museum’s next blockbuster exhibition, Pompeii, opens this Friday. Pompeii is an extraordinary new immersive experience that combines captivating soundscapes and large-scale digital projections with over 90 objects from the ancient city. Details here.

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This Weekend: 🎶 Carols in Town Park

Bring a picnic and settle in for an evening of Christmas Carols with the Tuggeranong Salvation Army Band, choir, and special guest and The Voice Finalist Amber Nichols. There will be a sausage sizzle, food trucks, a kids’ colouring-in competition and, of course, a visit from Santa. Details here.

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News: 🔧 Scrivener Dam is Getting an Upgrade

Scrivener Dam’s largest upgrade in its 61-year history will soon commence. The dissipator wall needs strengthening after a study found the dam structure could be at risk in flood conditions. The work will be completed in stages to ensure the dam can continue to operate. Early work will start before Christmas, with the major construction beginning in March.

The project will require the NCA to lower the level of the lake by 500mm from March for the duration of the project. This water level shouldn’t cause any disruptions to users of the lake. Details here.

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🎨 Arts Around Town

A Luminous Christmas: The highly acclaimed Luminescence Chamber Singers in collaboration with Canberra International Music Festival, Wesley Music Centre, and Smith’s Alternative present a series of festive concerts happening this Friday to Sunday. Details here.

Carmen: Canberra Theatre will be celebrating its 60th year in 2025. So it’s fitting that The Australian Ballet will return 60 years to the day that they opened the Canberra Theatre Centre to great fanfare in 1965. Details here.

Gene Perla: Gene Perla is performing at the Tuggeranong Arts Centre this Saturday. Revisit the powerful music of the iconic 1972 Live at the Lighthouse performance with founding member and bassist Gene Perla. When the Elvin Jones group—featuring David Liebman, Steve Grossman, and Gene Perla—took the stage at the Lighthouse Café in Hermosa Beach, California (Los Angeles), their performance was captured, released, and instantly hailed as a seminal jazz recording. Details here.

Tick, Tick, Boom ACT Hub: tick, tick… BOOM!, an autobiographical musical by playwright Jonathan Larson, is the story of an aspiring composer in New York City who is worried he made the wrong career choice whilst navigating the pressures of love and friendship. ACT Hub’s production of Tick, Tick, Boom runs from December 11-21. Details here.

SAUCE: SAUCE is a buddy-comedy about a pair of hot messes, one a kleptomaniac, the other a compulsive liar, whose lives are falling apart. Over the course of a day of inappropriate situations, they bond over a love of sauce. The play is on this week at Smith’s Alternative. Details here.

UNHINGED: Civic Art Bureau is a new independent art gallery located in the Melbourne Building, upstairs from Smith’s Alternative. The current exhibition UNHINGED: Richard Larter and Peter Maloney, explores the intertwined personal and professional relationships of the two local artists, highlighting their individual yet interconnected artistic practices through their use of models and shared flair for cultural subversion. Details here.

Punk Romantic: Canberra Contemporary Art Space presents the debut solo exhibition of local artist Sophie Dumaresq. Dumaresq’s interdisciplinary practice brings perspectives of absurdity, queerness and humour to creative and critical robotics. Details here.

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Pets: 🐶 Greyhound Adoption Day

Greyhounds as Pets is a not-for-profit organisation that places greyhounds with loving owners. They are hosting an adoption day this Saturday where over 25 greyhounds will be looking for a home. Details here.

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Escape: 🍷 Yarrh Wines

Cubby and Co. run glamping tents at Mount Majura Vineyard. They’ve now partnered with a second winery to launch a tiny house stay at Yarrh Wines in Murrumbateman. Details here.

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Tidbits:

Neuron Intoxication Test: Canberra’s e-scooter operator, Neuron, is reintroducing its in-app cognition test throughout the festive season in an effort to curb intoxicated riding. To unlock a scooter, riders must accurately tap specific images within a set time limit. It remains unclear whether the intoxication test will continue to be enforced during Summernats

New Mental Health Centre: A new, free walk-in mental health centre has opened in the city, making it one of the first Medicare Mental Health Centres in Australia. The facility provides care and information without the need for appointments or referrals. Another Medicare Mental Health Centre is slated to open in Tuggeranong in 2025.

400 Apartments For Belconnen: A development application has been lodged for a 400-unit project at 40 Cameron Avenue, Belconnen. The proposal features two towers, with the tallest rising to 88 metres and 27 storeys. The application is open to public comment until January 20.