This year’s Enlighten festival will take place from 1 to 11 March – a week and a half where culture and creativity collide in Canberra. The national institutions will be lit up with digital art projections by night, and the National Triangle precinct will come alive with music, entertainment, and food and beverage stalls. Later in the month, 9-17 March, hot air balloons will fly over Lake Burley Griffin in the morning.
People should come “to have a great night out, to see something really interesting and exciting, and see the city showcase some of its best elements”, Ross Triffitt, executive branch manager at Events ACT, says.
This year, Mr Triffitt says, there will be a lot of variety across the architectural projections. To celebrate the 35th birthday of Parliament House, which opened in May 1988, the façade will show projections of a Lego model of the building designed by LEGO-certified professional and well-known connoisseur Ryan ‘Brickman’ McNaught.
“Everyone’s familiar with Lego, [so] it’ll be a great way to see this iconic building change into something that people can relate to,” Mr Triffitt says.
The two galleries’ digital projections will showcase Indigenous artists. At the National Portrait Gallery, Dylan Mooney, a legally blind Indigenous and South Sea Islander artist, will draw a different portrait each night; it will be projected onto the building as he creates it. No two nights will be the same. The National Gallery will launch Vincent Namatjira’s Australia in colour, a commissioned projection and sound-based work.
The Museum of Australian Democracy will feature untold stories of workers at Old Parliament House in the 1980s, while the National Library will tell Australians’ histories through its photographic collection.
Questacon will feature senior Ngunnawal elder Auntie Violet Sheridan’s heartfelt acknowledgement of First Nations people as the original scientists, emphasising the importance of sharing knowledge between generations, and celebrating their role as innovators.
“One of the things we’re most fortunate to have in this city is the national cultural institutions that are the holders of the nation’s stories,” Mr Triffitt says. “Enlighten is the one time that we bring everything together in an innovative and different way.”
The projections on the buildings will be partnered with illuminated installations. A virtual reality experience, from Studio Go Go, is influenced by Leonardo da Vinci’s fabulous flying machines: a glider, skydiving, an ornithopter, and a helical screw.
Another installation is an interactive mobile point and shoot video mapping system (MAPP). It projects from an old-fashioned stroller and scans participants; within seconds, they can be projected onto the screen as a piece of art.
The Mycelium Network replicates the mushroom network through thousands of colourful animated fibre optic strands that pulse and sparkle, Mr Triffitt says: “It is kind of alive and communicating with other organisms around.”
‘Siren’ draws upon the cyberpunk genre, portraying a netrunner, a cybernetically augmented hacker.
Meanwhile, dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures will roam around Civic Square, in the City Illuminations exhibition ‘Before Us’. A free shuttle bus will travel between the city and the national triangle.
“There’s a real mix of fabulous and rich experiences to the public; but there’s some much greater stories and cultural narratives that sit beside these pieces of work,” Mr Triffitt says.
A “very strong food and beverage offering” is on the menu. The Enlighten Food Park, “a playground for foodies”, will feature food trucks from across the east coast of Australia, and local favourites. The popular BentSpoke Beer Garden will return, with local food trucks and vendors. A new activation, Bar Berra, will showcase some of Canberra’s finest wines and speciality cocktails from Canberra distilleries. Parliament House’s chef will serve a six-course degustation in the Members and Guests Dining Room on 8 March.
The festival has “an amazing lineup” of musicians, Mr Triffitt says. The Hoodoo Gurus, “one of the best-known and most iconic bands in Australia”, will perform with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra on 10 March. The ACT Government has commissioned award-winning young composer Alex Turley to write an arrangement of their works.
“That’s going to be a really special piece, to see that delivered in a world-first at Stage 88,” Mr Triffitt says.
First Nations artists Thelma Plum, Jem Cassar-Daley, Dan Sultan, Briggs, and Jeremy Whiskey will perform at the National Gallery in the Enlighten After Dark program. Local talent including Sophie Edwards, the SunBears, and Los Chavos will perform at the Festival Hub, supported by visiting artists like Salt and Steel, the Rayes, and the Tullamarines.
At CANcophony (University of Canberra, 9 March), Canberra’s contemporary music scene will be reimagined with a jazz orchestra. Some of Canberra’s finest artists – including Citizen Kay, Bec Taylor, the Burley Griffin, and Lucy Sugerman – will perform their music backed by the 32-piece Jazz Orchestra Spectrum Big Band.
A film festival, Lights! Canberra! Action (8 March), will showcase local filmmakers’ interpretations of the theme ‘A Sense of Purpose’, based on Canberra’s story.
“We’re a city born from a sense of purpose, designed to capture the way of life, aspirations, and ideals of a nation,” Mr Triffitt says.
The last day of the festival, Monday 11 March, begins with the Canberra Day Appeal Fun Run, followed by entertainment in Commonwealth Park. The Fun Run raises money for charity; profits from the entry fees go to Hands Across Canberra. Commonwealth Park will be activated from 10am to 5pm. There will be a local food and makers market organised by Local Village Markets, who run the Haig Park and Little Burley Markets, with street food from around the world and picnic options. Budjerah, a twice ARIA award-winning artist who was in the top 20 of the Triple J Hottest 100 this year, will headline the Canberra Day concert.
“Lots of entertainment for families and kids right throughout the day,” Mr Triffitt says.
The Enlighten festival will finish that night at 11pm.
Enlighten overlaps with the Canberra Balloon Spectacular (9–17 March). This year’s special balloon is Lucy, a British balloon in the shape of a woman’s head, selected because International Women’s Day is the day before the Balloon Spectacular begins. More than 40 hot air balloons will take off from Patrick White Lawns (outside the National Library) each morning. Hot breakfasts, pastries, and crêpes will be served.
“Of course, you don’t need to be on site to engage with that event,” Mr Triffitt says. “If you’re out and about in Canberra in the morning, you can see the sky lit up with balloons.”
Chief Minister Andrew Barr has called Enlighten a showpiece for Canberra. Before the pandemic, the festival brought $5.5 million worth of business into the city.
“It hasn’t had the scale of a 30-day event [like] Floriade, but it’s still a very strong contributor,” Mr Triffitt says. The government hopes visitor numbers will return to pre-pandemic figures. Last year, more than 340,000 people attended, and the event had a total economic spend of nearly $20 million.
“It’s good at bringing people into the city; it’s also great at bringing people out of their homes and interacting with each other – so a great event for Canberrans as well as tourists,” Mr Triffitt says.
The Enlighten Festival runs 1–11 March; Canberra Balloon Spectacular runs 9–17 March. For more information, visit enlightencanberra.com
