By Rama Gaind.
Spring has sprung as the well-worn saying goes, and there’s so much to see and do in and around the nation’s capital over the next few months.
It all starts with Floriade this weekend. Australia’s biggest celebration of spring has become an iconic event for Canberra. It opens in Commonwealth Park on Saturday, 15 September and continues until 14 October.
Floriade, Australia’s biggest celebration of spring, opens in Commonwealth Park, Canberra, on Saturday, 15 September and continues until 14 October.
Floriade isn’t just celebrating the start of spring and the blossoming of more than one million bulbs and annuals, we’re celebrating the best of Pop Culture! Revel in an impressive array of retro inspired flowerbeds and a festival program brimming with live music, horticultural displays and unmissable entertainment.
The celebration is set to delight the green thumb, the floral aficionado or the backyard gardener with 30 days of blooms, food and entertainment. While you’ll enjoy the time spent and memories made, you will be able to pursue your interest in wanting a memento of your time spent tiptoeing through the tulips (and pansies, violas, irises, geraniums, chrysanthemums).
Also Floriade Nightfest returns from 26-30 September. As the sun sets over Commonwealth Park, Floriade becomes an illuminated wonderland. Take a wander through the illuminated mesmerising Nautalis Forest with its spiraling trees that ripple and pulse with colour, before heading to the stage for the nightly entertainment.
Each night a jam-packed schedule offers something new with movies, music including Kate Miller-Heidke, dancing, Sunday’s Comedy NightFest featuring Arj Barker, and stalls brimming with food and drinks.
Entry to the month-long Floriade is free.
Scope out some sculptures at this year’s new venue – for Sculpture in the Paddock –
the rolling 50-acre paddock on Shaw Vineyard Estate, Murrumbateman.
Spring into Yass Valley as it gets ready to host an array of fabulous spring events in the region. Events are focused on food and wine, the arts, history and the great outdoors:
- Irish & Celtic Music Festival, 14-16 September
- Tulip Top Gardens, 15 September-14 October
- Australian Cool Climate Wine Show, 22 September
- Sculpture in the Paddock, 22 September-7 October
- Murrumbateman Moving Feast, 29 and 30 September
- Gundaroo Music Festival, 13 October
- Murrumbateman Field Days, 20 and 21 October
- Dragon Dreaming Festival, 2-5 November
- Classic Yass, 3 November
- Yass Rodeo, 10 November
- Bowning Country Fair, 18 November
Here’s a summary of the activities:
Irish & Celtic Music Festival
Join the Craic in Yass! Three days of traditional Irish and Celtic music plus Australian folk music, master classes, Celtic markets, poets’ soiree and workshops, showcase Yass Valley’s proud Irish history. There will be plenty of family entertainment at various venues.
Tulip Top Gardens
Explore an array of blooms as they herald spring’s arrival. Stroll through 10 acres of tulips and other flowers that provide a magical pathway to the cascading waterfall and hidden valley. Tulip Farm, Sutton.
Drink in the country at the region’s premier small farm field day, Murrumbateman Field Day, which celebrates its 40th birthday this year.
Australian Cool Climate Wine Show
Get ready to taste the wine! This national wine show is dedicated to benchmarking Australia’s cool climate wine styles. Take part in a public tasting, find your favourites and indulge at the Long Table Wine Luncheon. Various venues.
Murrumbateman Moving Feast
Tantalise your taste buds over the October long weekend with this roving degustation of fine local wines and delicious tasting plates. Choose from a main meal or dessert matched perfectly with wines, and meet the makers. Various venues.
Gundaroo Music Festival
Ignite your inner music lover with 12 hours of non-stop entertainment, including food and wine tasting, produce and arts stalls, a kids’ zone and a fireworks display. The festival aims to raise awareness of and funding for Motor Neurone Disease. Cork Street, Gundaroo.
Tulip Top Gardens lets you explore an array of blooms as they herald spring’s arrival. Stroll through 10 acres of tulips and other flowers at the Tulip Farm, Sutton.
Murrumbateman Field Days
Drink in the country at the region’s premier small farm field day, this year celebrating its 40th birthday. Enjoy children’s entertainment, farm animals, food and wine, antique and modern farm machinery, shearing, woodchopping, live music and more. Murrumbateman Recreation Grounds, Murrumbateman.
Dragon Dreaming Festival
Celebrate art, music nature and the freedom of self-expression at this feast of goodness featuring some of the amazing artistic talent that the region has to offer. Wee Jasper.
Classic Yass
Get back to the ‘good old days’ in the centre of the historic town of Yass. See cars from the early 1900s through to the 70s, vintage memorabilia, enjoy music from the 50s, 60s and 70s, watch the Rotary Billy Cart Derby, Yass Railway Open Day and more. Meehan Street, Yass.
Get back to the ‘good old days’ in the centre of the historic town with the Classic Yass. See cars from the early 1900s through to the 70s and much more.
Yass Rodeo
Grab a bit of rodeo action by the horns as the Yass Rodeo rounds up for another year of competition and entertainment. Don’t miss this full ABCRA Rodeo including bulls, broncs and timed events. Leo Buckmaster Rodeo Arena, Yass Showground, Yass.
Bowning Country Fair
Delight in the country charm of this Country Fair. It’s a day of entertainment with market stalls, live entertainment, bushranger re-enactments, antique farm machinery, baby animal farmyard, wool spinning, archery and more. And it’s all to raise money for Yass Valley CanAssist! Rollonin Café, Bowning Road, Bowning.
DETAILS BOX
Floriade in Canberra
Commonwealth Park
15 September–14 October 2018
W: https://floriadeaustralia.com/program/
Spring into Yass Valley
