October 24

Hello Canberra,

📆 Today: It’s Friday, October 24.

🌤️ Weather: 23° and mostly sunny.

👉 This Weekend in Canberra

The Canberra Nara Candle Festival, La Fiesta in the City, the City Farm Open Day, Yarralumla Craft Market and much more are coming up this weekend.

Get the full rundown of weekend events.

Next Week: 🚣 Golden Oar Lakeside Festival

Next weekend, Black Mountain Peninsula will come alive with the Golden Oar regatta festival. Set on the waters of Lake Burley Griffin, The Golden Oar brings together elite international and Australian rowers, including Olympic gold medallists, to battle it out for glory and cash prizes. The festival is equal parts elite sport and lakeside party, with food vans, bars, live music, kids’ activities and a cardboard boat regatta! This is the first year of the Golden Oar, put on by the community rowing hub Red-Shed—I’m sure it will become a great Canberra tradition! Details here.

🎭 Coming Up On Stage

Kinky History Live: Award-winning writer, creative and sex historian Dr Esmé Louise James is best known as the creator of Kinky History. With over 3 million followers on social media, Esmé has delivered education with a side of frivolity to the masses. The live show is coming to The Street on 8 November. Details here.

Politics Now: Join Patricia Karvelas, Fran Kelly and special guests for the Politics Now live show, wrapping a massive year in Australian politics. Details here.

The Nutcracker: Ballet’s most iconic story, The Nutcracker, is coming to Canberra this November. Witness world-class dancers from around the globe perform ballet’s greatest Christmas show. An extra show has been added. Details here.

Tidbits

Woden Masterplan: Scentre Group, the developer behind Westfield, has released a concept masterplan for the future of Woden. They foresee adding up to 17 towers to the centre, including one standing 55 storeys tall. The current highest tower in the area is 22 storeys, and a major amendment to the Territory Plan would be required. Details here.

Getting to the Nara Candle Festival: Parking around the Canberra Nara Candle Festival is limited, and you’ll need to park a short distance from the event. A free shuttle bus runs between the nearby car parks. Details here.

Parcels Post Office: In a sign of how postal services have changed, Australia Post has opened a dedicated Parcels Post Office in Mitchell. The next-generation branch has 24/7 self-serve options and Parcel Lockers—just in time for the Christmas rush.

I also noticed Dickson Post Office is undergoing some major changes—the new layout features a smaller range of retail products and increased space for parcel storage.

Queer Canberra: 🏳️‍🌈 SpringOUT

SpringOUT is Canberra’s Pride Festival held in November each year. The month is packed with events, performances, art, sport, discussions and workshops for the whole community. Things kick off next week with the SpringOUT Fair Day—the largest queer community event in Canberra. The full program of events is available on the website. Details here.

Coming Up: 🏉 Vikings Sunday Funday

Are your kids looking to try a new sport? Next Sunday, Vikings is hosting their annual fun day—kids can try over 20 different sports put on by local clubs. It’s a jam-packed day of sport, food and family fun. Details here.

Cause: ❤️ SCADaddle

This Sunday, walk around LBG to raise money for research into an uncommon but increasingly diagnosed cause of heart attacks that particularly affects women—SCAD (spontaneous coronary artery dissection). The 5 km Canberra SCADaddle walk starts and finishes on the steps in front of the National Library. Everyone, including pets, is welcome! Details here.

Games: 🧩 Friday Quiz

Gather the brains trust for the Canberra Digest Quiz:

Play Quiz #4.

Classifieds

🪐 Cottis Conducts The Planets: The Canberra Symphony Orchestra performs 'The Planets', an expansive, spine-tingling musical suite that served as a source of inspiration for some of cinema's greatest composers, including John Williams and Hans Zimmer. Don't miss this epic orchestral masterwork that shaped the sound of cinema itself! Details here.

✨ Stop the Chaos - Master Your Calm! Feeling overwhelmed? Our popular 5-week, evidence-based course gives you powerful tools to master your mindset to regulate emotions, reduce stress and build foundations for a calmer life. Starts Oct 29. All levels welcome. Book now: IS-SPECIAL30/OFF1025 for $30 off. Get info & tickets now

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Classifieds support Canberra Digest

Canberra Digest will be back on Monday. Have a great weekend!