UPDATED: Ten things to do in Canberra this week (13 - 20 August)

UPDATED 1:15 pm: Chief Minister Andrew Barr has announced that the ACT will enter a seven-day lockdown from 5:00 pm, 12 August. Events for the next week have been cancelled.

11:30 am: There’ll be plenty of art for the adults and action for the kids this week in the Canberra region.

The circuses continue, with Hudsons Circus still performing at the Queanbeyan Showground just as another one roars into Majura Park with a Jurassic Creatures and Paw Patrol theme.

You’ll be able to see a raw and wild South Australia depicted by a colonial artist in 1844 at an exhibition at the National Library. Meanwhile, another exhibition at the Belconnen Arts Centre will celebrate the highly detailed and imaginative drawings of renowned Australian children’s author Graeme Base.

In a celebration of different cultures, there’ll be a Thai feast at the Southern Cross Club and a Japanese drumming performance at Belco Arts.

And you know that thing you’ve kept around the house because, although it’s broken, you’ll “get around to fixing it one day”? Yes? Well, that day is Saturday, as the Canberra Repair Café comes back to the Canberra Environment Centre on Acton Peninsula.

And last but not least, Canberra’s Handmade Markets are back on at EPIC.

Of course, with the ever-changing COVID situation, make sure you check with event organisers to avoid disappointment.

All week

Hudsons Circus

When: Thursday 5 August to Sunday 22 August, various times
Where: Queanbeyan Showground
Cost: $15 to $60; book tickets.

Hudsons Circus presents a two-hour traditional-style circus with a modern twist featuring edge-of-your-seat daredevils and hilarious clowns in a fast-paced show for the whole family.

All this and more, presented by Australian ringmistress Jane De Goldi.

All weekend

Canberra Handmade Markets

When: Saturday 14 to Sunday 15 August, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Where: EPIC (Exhibition Park in Canberra), Northbourne Avenue, Mitchell
Cost: Free entry.

Come support local and regional artisans, producers and designers at this weekend’s Handmade Markets. The smaller than usual event marks the much-anticipated return of one of Canberra’s biggest and most beloved events.

Entry is via gate two off Flemington Road or gate four near McDonald’s. Parking people will direct you. Alternatively, you can park across the road or catch the light rail.

This is a ticketed event; check with organisers for availability.

Saturday

Illustrating the Antipodes: George French Angas in Australia and New Zealand 1844-1845

When: Saturday 14 August to Sunday 14 November, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where: National Library of Australia
Cost: Free entry.

Illustrating the Antipodes: George French Angas in Australia and New Zealand 1844-1845 is the Library’s newest exhibition, drawing together nearly 200 artworks, sketches and books by colonial artist George French Angas, as well as items relating to his life and travels.

Angas was the son of George Fife Angas, one of South Australia’s founders, and visitors may recognise landmarks such as Port Lincoln from Winter’s Hill and a scene from Mount Lofty looking over the plains of Adelaide.

Canberra Repair Café

When: Saturday 14 August, 10:00 to 1:00 pm
Where: Canberra Environment Centre
Cost: Free; see Facebook for details.

Bring along your broken items and volunteers will help you learn how to repair them, be they jewellery, clothing, small appliances, wooden objects, bicycles or much more. The event is entirely volunteer-run and self-sufficient, so if you have tools or materials you can use for your own repairs or share with others, you’re invited to bring them along.

Tea and coffee are available by donation; guests are encouraged to bring snacks along.

Wednesday

Women of Spirit Awards 2021

When: Wednesday 18 August, 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Where: Gandel Hall, National Gallery of Australia
Cost: $99 per person or tables of 10 for $900. Email events@act.lifeline.org.au to purchase tickets.

The Lifeline Canberra Women of Spirit Awards Luncheon is back for 2021, and they’ve invited you to join them for a special event highlighting the wonderful women in our community.

Guest speaker on the day is Michelle Mitchell, a Canberra local Mum of two, author of Girl Got Game, podcast host at Franki & Michelle, CEO at Ms Michelle Mitchell, and blogger at Glamor Hippie.

Friday

Other Worlds – Exploring the Universe of Graeme Base at Belco Arts

When: Friday 20 to Sunday 22 August, 10:00 am
Where: Belco Arts; 118 Emu Bank Belconnen
Cost: Free; for more information, visit Belco Arts.

Lifting off in an action-packed weekend from 20 to 22 August, get up close and marvel at original illustrations from the book The Worst Band in the Universe by Australian children’s author Graeme Base.

An expert face painter will be on hand to transform you into your favourite extra-terrestrial character, and you can even take to the stage and travel space through song with galactic karaoke! Quirky roving performers will entertain and delight, but don’t forget to keep your eye out for aliens hiding around the Centre – can you find them all?

Other Worlds is totally free and suitable for all ages.

Jurassic Creatures and Paw Patrol at Majura Park

When: Friday 20 August to Monday 4 October, various times
Where: Majura Park Shopping Centre, 18 Spitfire Avenue, Majura Park
Cost: $31.56 -$68.77; tickets from Ticketmaster.

Have you heard? The dinosaurs are coming!

Jurassic Creatures are roaring their way into Canberra from August, and they are bringing Nickelodeon’s Paw Patrol with them. A realistic animatronics exhibition like no other, Jurassic Creatures will capture the imagination of children young and old with over 30 dinosaurs and interactive activities that will immerse all into a prehistoric era.

Plus, Paw Patrol will be live under the big top as a bonus activity to the Jurassic Creatures.

Space Oddity

When: Friday 20 August, 6:00 pm
Where: Belco Arts, 118 Emu Bank Belconnen, ACT
Cost: Free; for more information, visit Belco Arts.

In a typical late-90s living room, lying on the floor and bathed in blue light from a flickering TV, a young Tom Buckland embarked on a lifetime fascination with science fiction.

Seeing the seminal science-fiction epic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), directed by Stanley Kubrick, left a deep impression on a young Buckland. In a nostalgic reflection on the multitudes of homemade cardboard starships and moon-bases of his youth, a now slightly taller Buckland will attempt to lovingly rebuild, recreate and refilm this iconic movie entirely within the gallery space.

Jojy’s Big Thai Feast

When: Friday 20 August, 6:30 pm
Where: Canberra Southern Cross Club Jamison, corner of Catchpole and Bowman Street, Macquarie
Cost: $39, children up to 12 years $19. Tickets available at Canberra Southern Cross Club.

Join Executive Chef Jojy Vattoly as he serves an inspired three-course Thai-themed buffet at Canberra Southern Cross Club, Jamison. Start with Tom Yum soup and homemade fish cakes, enjoy classic Pad Thai, and finish with a native Thai fruit salad for dessert.

Taikoz and Belco Arts present ‘Side by Side’

When: Friday 20 and Saturday 21 August 2021 at 8:00 pm
Where: Belco Arts, 118 Emu Bank Belconnen
Cost: $45 Concession, $55 Adult. Available online at Belco Arts.

Australia’s foremost exponent in Japanese Taiko drumming, Taikoz emerges stronger than ever after lockdown. ‘Side by Side’ features five new works about intimacy, innermost thoughts and shared experience, as breathless and haunting Japanese percussion threads together stories of the pressures, anxieties and pragmatism of the COVID-19 threat.

Come and celebrate, experience and contribute to real, live music-making with Taikoz!