15 September 2025 | CanberraDigest

Hello Canberra,

📆 Today: This week in Canberra + A fireworks festival

⛅️ Weather: 21° and mostly sunny. This week looks like a mixed bag, with a few sunny days and some showers.

📆 This Week in Canberra

This week’s highlights:

Hawker Community Repair Cafe and Markets: Get repairs for a range of items, including clothes, small electrical items and garden tools. Plus the Made Local market featuring more than 25 local stalls and other activities including hand massages, local seed collection and suncatcher weaving. Details here.

UC Open Day: UC is going big with its Open Day this year, putting on a family-friendly event that blends a traditional university open day with a full-scale festival. Details here.

Kambah Spring Sustainability Fair: This Sunday, there’s a community celebration of all things sustainable at the Kambah Spring Sustainability Fair. Expect sustainable living workshops, a preloved clothes swap, an e-bike try-and-ride and more. Details here.

Floriade: The spring festival continues this week. Visit the Floriade website for the full program of live entertainment, workshops and events. Details here.

80s Silent Disco: An 80s-themed silent disco in the illuminated surroundings of the National Gallery of Australia, with all your favourite 80s tunes. Details here.

Canberra Crystal Extravaganza: The Crystal Society is hosting a crystal show at Gorman Arts Centre, with a diverse range of stunning geodes, polished stones and rare specimens available. Details here.

French-Australian Preschool Fête: The French-Australian Preschool in Red Hill is holding its annual fête this Saturday. Expect a day full of French treats, local treasures and family fun. Details here.

EPIC Travel Expo: Find inspiration for your next holiday, talk to leading travel brands and meet award-winning local travel agencies. Details here.

Embroiderers’ Guild Exhibition: The ACT Embroiderers' Guild will be holding an exhibition at Albert Hall this Friday–Sunday, showcasing traditional and contemporary needlework stitched by members. Embroidered items and stitching supplies will be available to purchase. Details here.

Further Afield: 🧨 Gunning Fireworks Festival

This Saturday, the Gunning Showgrounds will light up with a dazzling display of lights and explosive fun for the annual Gunning Fireworks Festival. The festival began as a way for fireworks companies to showcase their displays to potential clients, but has grown into a popular public event. The 2025 program will feature two synchronised musical fireworks displays, a new daytime smoke demonstration, a performance of Beating the Retreat by the Tuggeranong Valley Band (complete with live cannon simulations), as well as the ever-popular fireworks demonstration showcasing this year’s latest effects. Details here.

Around Canberra: 🏓 Table Tennis Collective

A new recreational table tennis facility has opened in the Dairy Road precinct. They run regular coaching classes for adults and kids, and the tables are open to both members and casual players. Details here.

✂️ Something to do:

Bonsai at the Bay: Choose from a one- or two-hour workshop where you’ll wire and style your own mini bonsai under expert guidance, and take it home at the end. Details here.

World Dance Workshop: Folk Dance Australia, in conjunction with Folk Dance Canberra, is presenting a weekend dance workshop with international world dance teacher Lee Otterholt. He’ll be teaching a range of dances suitable for beginners and intermediate students. Details here.

Wake Up with the Birds: Join an experienced guide for an early morning bird watching walk in the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Details here.

🎙️ Talks and Workshops

Brazen Hussies: Catherine Dwyer, Elizabeth Reid and Biff Ward will sit down with Virginia Haussegger to discuss the evolution of feminism in Australia, and the making of the acclaimed documentary Brazen Hussies. The conversation will be followed by a screening of the one-hour version of the film. Don’t miss this opportunity to spend an evening in the company of trailblazing women who reshaped Australia’s social and political landscape. Details here.

Taxing Times: An exhibition and conversation series hosted at Manning Clark House, exploring the role of tax in shaping our lives. Set against the backdrop of the House’s history as a place for public debate and cultural exchange, the project uses art, ideas and dialogue to open up fresh ways of thinking about taxation. Rather than treating tax as a dry or technical subject, Taxing Times invites us to see it as part of our civic life—a system that connects us, supports our communities and reflects the kind of society we want to build together. Details here.

Classifieds

🩰 Ballet of Lights: Sleeping Beauty has arrived in Canberra! This beloved tale is brought to life through classical dance, stunning choreography, and beautiful glow-in-the-dark costumes. Details here.

Classifieds support Canberra Digest