21 November 2019

Eleven things to do around Canberra this weekend (22–24 November)

| Zoe Pleasants
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Sunset Cinema Canberra

Watch The Lion King, Knives Out or Hustlers this weekend at the Sunset Cinema. Photo: Sunset Cinema Canberra.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas this weekend. The Canberra Choral Society is performing Handel’s Messiah this Saturday, the Scandinavian Christmas Bazaar is on at Albert Hall this Sunday, and there are a number of markets on around town selling locally made products and produce to help you get a head start on your Christmas shopping. The Undercurrent Design Market is on at the Portrait Gallery all weekend, and this Saturday the CBRmade Market is on at Exhibition Park and the Arboretum is having a Harvest Garden Stall. It’s also beginning to look a lot like summer with the Sunset Cinema opening at the Botanic Gardens this week. It is the last week of the DESIGN Canberra Festival and the SpringOUT Festival which is hosting its annual community picnic in Glebe Park this Sunday.

All weekend

Sunset Cinema

Where: Australian National Botanic Gardens
When: Friday, Saturday & Sunday from 6:30 pm
The Sunset Cinema opens this Thursday at the Botanic Gardens and it will be screening movies at the Garden’s Eucalypt Lawn until 12 January. This weekend catch The Lion King (2019) on Friday, Knives Out (Advanced Screening) on Saturday, and Hustlers on Sunday. There will be snacks and more substantial food on-site to purchase or bring your own picnic, and there will be bean loungers, beanbags and lawn chairs available to rent or bring your own picnic rug, pillows, beanbags or camping chairs. Tickets are $20 for adults, $17 for concession and $13 for kids aged 3–12 years.

Undercurrent Design Market

Where: National Portrait Gallery
When: Friday 5:00pm – 8:00 pm, Saturday & Sunday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
It is the final weekend of the DESIGN Canberra Festival with heaps of events on including the Undercurrent Design Market at the Portrait Gallery. Hosted by The Curatoreum, this market features original and contemporary Australian designed products. Check out other DESIGN Canberra Festival events here.

National Wine Show: Trophy Presentation Dinner and Wine Experience

Where: Trophy Presentation Dinner at National Arboretum and the National Wine Experience at Exhibition Park
When: Friday 6:30 – 11:00 pm and Saturday 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
This weekend, sample award-winning wines at the National Wine Show 2019 Trophy Presentation Dinner on Friday night or at its National Wine Experience on Saturday afternoon. The National Wine Show judges the best of Australian wines selected from a field of wines which qualified through a regional or capital city wine show. The Trophy Presentation Dinner will be held at the National Arboretum and includes a four-course dinner matched with award-winning wines. Tickets are $280, to book your tickets please email finance@rncas.org.au. The National Wine Experience will be held at the Coorong Pavilion, Exhibition Park and provides the opportunity to sample from a selection of more than 1500 wines. Tickets are $80, book here.

National Wine Show

Judges and some of the assembled medal-winning wines at the 2018 National Wine Show of Australia. Photo: Michael Daniel.

The Wharf Revue

Where: Canberra Theatre
When: Friday 8:00 pm, Saturday 2:00 pm & 8:00 pm
It is the last weekend to catch the annual Wharf Revue and get a much-needed dose of political satire. The show rakes through political dirt to find the comedy gold and much like the real political circus, the choreography is tight, the wigs are loose and the punchlines are loaded. It stars Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and pianist Phillip Scott. Tickets from $53 for adults, $50 for concession and $40 for under 27s. Book here.

Saturday

CBRmade Market

Where: Exhibition Park
When: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
CBRmade is an Etsy Made Local market. Stallholders from Canberra and the surrounding region will be selling handmade products and locally produced food and beverages. Entry costs a gold coin which will be donated to Kiss Goodbye to MS – Australia and the Australian Red Cross bushfire appeal.

Harvest Garden Stall

Where: National Arboretum
When: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
The ‘Friends of the Arboretum’s Harvest Group’ is hosting its Harvest Garden Stall this Saturday. The group will be selling homemade fig jam, conserve and chutney, and pickled figs made from the Arboretum’s fig trees; as well as lavender bags, dried rosemary, gourds, dried edible viola, and cornflower petals and chamomile flowers for tea from the Arboretum’s Discovery Garden.

Holy Family Primary School Country Fair

Where: Holy Family Primary School, Gowrie
When: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
It is school fete season and this weekend it’s Holy Family Primary School’s turn. There will be amusement rides, a sideshow alley, a jumping castle, face painting, show bags and live entertainment. Each year Holy Family Primary chooses a theme for its fete, this year it is going country. There will be pony rides, a petting zoo, demonstrations by a blacksmith and a woodcutter, and competitions including gumboot tossing, scarecrow making and cake baking.

Handel’s Messiah

Where: Llewellyn Hall
When: 7:30 pm
The Canberra Choral Society is marking the start of the Christmas season with a performance of Handel’s Messiah this Saturday. The performance will feature a massed choir, an orchestra and soloists Amy Moore (soprano), Stephanie Dillon (mezzo-soprano), Richard Butler (tenor) and Andrew O’Connor (bass), and will be conducted by Roland Peelman. Tickets are $58 for adults, $55 for seniors, $45 for pensioners, $30 for under 27s and $20 for under 16s. Book here.

Sunday

The SpringOUT Big Community Picnic

Where: Glebe Park
When: From 11:00 am
It is the last weekend of the SpringOUT Festival and it finishes this Sunday with an inclusive picnic celebrating the diversity of Canberra’s LGBTIQ community. Paint Glebe Park red and every other colour of the rainbow! Get your face painted, join in a Drag 101 or burlesque fan dancing workshop, or find a bargain at the suitcase rummage. There will also be a family area with arts and craft activities, a jumping castle, free fairy floss, face-painting and story-time. The picnic will be emceed by Laydee Kinmee – aka the Yodelling Drag Diva – and there will be live entertainment from Canberra Qwire, Jazida and Hit ‘n’ Miss.

Scandinavian Christmas Bazaar

Where: Albert Hall
When: 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Celebrate Christmas in Scandinavian style this Sunday at the Albert Hall. There will be Christmas markets, Scandinavian food, a Lucia procession—a traditional candle-lit parade featuring girls and boys clad in white full-length gowns singing songs together—Swedish folk dancing, a raffle and more.

Canberra United vs Melbourne City

Where: McKellar Park
When: From 3:00 pm
After an impressive opening-round victory against Perth Glory last weekend, Canberra United returns to McKellar Park this Sunday to play Melbourne City. Tickets from $9 and kids under 12 are free, book here.

Hayley training with team mates

Canberra United are ready for Game 2 against Melbourne City this Sunday 24 November. Photo by Ben Southall.

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