Summer brings sunshine and down-time: Two perfect reasons to explore the events in your capital city.
Head-turning art, delicious food, colourful shows. Whatever your passion, there’s something for everyone to enjoy at this special time of year.
Melbourne
Time is an exhibition set in the abandoned third-floor wing of Flinders Street Station by street artist Tyrone Wright, better known as Rone. It took Rone and his team three years to create the fictional setting of post-World War II Melbourne in this space.
Opens October 28, ends April 23. Tickets and more info.
A much-loved Melbourne tradition, the Moonlight Cinema, is back again. Bringing cult classics, blockbusters and family favourites to the Royal Botanic Gardens, there’s something for everyone to enjoy under the stars.
Screenings run from December 1 until March 26. Tickets and more info.
Sydney
Watch a fairy tale get the Broadway treatment with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Silvie Paladino stars as the Fairy Godmother in this contemporary version of the classic story.
Expect to see all the best bits – the pumpkin, the glass slipper, the masked ball – and more.
Showing at the Sydney Lyric Theatre from November 1, 2022 until January 29, 2023. Tickets and more info.
Free performances, talks, tours and workshops will be held between December 3 to 11 to celebrate the opening of the new home of the Art Gallery of NSW.
It will be spearheaded by a concert in the Domain headlined by British pop star Ellie Goulding and supported by Australian artists Meg Mac and Electric Fields.
There’s also a nightly drone show over Woolloomooloo Bay created by Kamilaroi artist Reko Rennie. More information.
Brisbane
Grab your picnic rug and the popcorn for Outdoor Cinema in the Suburbs. Films, such as Sing 2 and Red Dog, screen for free at local parks across Brisbane.
Films start at sundown and all are subtitled. Some screenings allow moviegoers to bring pets. More info.
BrisAsia returns to celebrate lunar new year and welcome the Year of the Rabbit. The festival includes 29 events such as exhibitions, live music, dance, workshops and culinary experiences.
It all kicks off with the BrisAsia Launch Party at the Fortitude Music Hall on February 3. Runs February 1-19, 2023.
Adelaide
See the Australian men’s cricket team take on the West Indies in a day-night Test match as part of the men’s Test deries from December 8-12, 2022.
The return of the West Indies to Australia marks the 30-year anniversary of the gripping Adelaide match when West Indies won by a single run. Tickets and more info.
Hairspray, the Broadway hit and popular movie, heads to Adelaide this summer. Starring Shane Jacobson as Edna Turnblad, Todd McKenney as Wilbur Turnblad, Rhonda Burchmore as Velma Von Tussle and Rob Mills as Corny Collins.
At the Festival Theatre December 27 until January 22. Tickets and more info.
Perth
Icelandic songstress Björk will headline the Perth Festival as it celebrates its 70th year. The art-pop legend will play four concerts as part of her Cornucopia light show in a custom-built pavilion within Langley Park.
The impressive line-up also includes Peaches, Bon Iver, Bikini Kill, Kae Tempest and a host of leading Australian theatre productions.
Runs from February 10-March 5. Tickets and more info.
See 15 dinosaurs come to life Lego-style. Created by Ryan ‘The Brickman’ McNaught, the exhibition includes 50 large-scale dinosaurs, props, scenes and activities made from over 6 million Lego bricks.
Runs until February 5, 2023, at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. Tickets and more info.
Canberra
More than 140 works of art by acclaimed artist Cressida Campbell will be on show until February 19, 2023.
The collection of painting and print works includes acquisitions and key works from private and public collections.
The Summernats is a Canberra calendar favourite. See everything from supped-up streetcars to the finals of the National Burnout Master.
Performances by Jimmy Barnes, Shannon Noll, Brooke Evers and the Stafford Brothers. Runs January 5-8, 2023. Tickets and more info.
Hobart
The Sydney to Hobart is one of the world’s toughest and most prestigious yacht races. Global competitors of all ages – as old as 86 and young as 18 – aim to complete the race within 40 hours.
Leaving Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day, entrants take on Bass Strait, enter Storm Bay, sprint up the River Derwent and finish in Sullivans Cove on New Year’s Eve.
The race is celebrated with the Taste of Tasmania festival, which features wares from local producers and a host of performers. Daryl Braithwaite will sing in the New Year.
Darwin
Fish for some of the best the Territory has to offer and you might just snag a six-figure prize. The Million Dollar Fish Season 8 sees more than 100 prize-tagged barramundi up for grabs including nine tagged barra worth $1 million each.
The lucrative fish have been released into five fishing regions – Darwin, Kakadu, Arnhem Land, Katherine and Tiwi Islands.
Runs until March 31, 2023. More info.
See some of the best Indigenous art from across the country at the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.
Held at The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, the awards are considered the most prestigious in its category. Artists share in a total of $190,000 in prize money.
Open until January 15. More info.
