Enlighten Festival: March 2025** (dates to be confirmed)
Now in its 15th year, 2025 will see the Enlighten Festival take over the city with a program packed with diverse and exciting events including City Illuminations, Lights! Canberra! Action!, and Fresh Out Fair Day. Brighten your morning and see the sky taken over by colourful hot air balloons at Canberra Balloon Spectacular, before you watch the sunset to the perfect soundtrack at Symphony in the Park.
National Folk Festival: 17 – 21 April 2025**
The National Folk Festival is a celebration of all things folk, featuring music, dance, circus and spoken word. From high-end entertainment to grassroots activities, from traditional and contemporary grooves to the quirky and unusual, the festival program is designed to inspire, enliven and entertain.
International AIDS Candlelight Memorial (Canberra): Sunday 18 May 2025 (date to be confirmed)
Candlelight Memorial events are held globally to honour the memory of all people who have lost their lives to HIV and AIDS and to reignite community activism in the response to HIV.
Floriade: 14 September – 13 October 2024
Floriade is an annual month-long celebration of spring in the heart of Australia’s capital. Visitors will enjoy a vibrant display of over a million blooms set to a soundtrack of diverse musical performances in a new and exciting program which will be announced later in the year. Floriade will celebrate its 37th year in 2024 with the theme Art in Bloom.
SpringOUT Festival: 1 – 30 November 2024
The SpringOUT Festival is Canberra’s queer cultural festival which affirms the pride, joy, dignity and identity of Canberra’s LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer) communities through events of celebration.
Fair Day Canberra: Saturday 2 November 2024
Canberra SpringOUT Festival and MERIDIAN will be presenting this spectacular one-day outdoor event, to launch the 2024 SpringOUT Festival. This is an exciting and wonderful opportunity to involve Queer Canberra in this vibrant festival providing many possibilities to build event capacity, event reach and to deliver a fabulous event to our communities.
Canberra Bushdance: Saturday 16 November 2024
Celebrating 40 years of Canberra Bushdance – a fun night of dancing with people of all flavours. Dust off your hat, polish your boots and get ready to kick up some dust, as the live band leads you through those dances you may remember from primary school – like Strip the Willow, The Waves of Bondi, as well as some crazy polkas and some more genteel promenades.
World AIDS Day: Monday 1 December 2024
World AIDS Day is held on 1 December each year. It raises awareness across the world and in the community about HIV and AIDS. It is a day for the community to show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died of AIDS related conditions or other conditions associated with HIV.
If your festival or event is not listed above, and you would like to submit for consideration, please send an email to: reception@australianpridenetwork.com.au Your festival or event must be not-for-profit and primarily coordinated by those who identify as LGBTIQ. (Events organised by individuals or commercial entities will not be considered)
Image: Parliament House, Canberra – photo by Richard Tuffin (courtesy of Visit Canberra)
Note: ** festival contains significant LGBTIQ content