What's on in Canberra, Australia through the year

Peak crowds — Summernats, Summer holidays in Australia

• Festival

  Summernats

  5–12 Jan · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Four days of street machines and burnouts at Exhibition Park in the first full week of January. The rest of the city is still on leave, and the noise carries a long way. Source ↗

Busy — one of its best months for weather

• Festival

  Enlighten Festival

  27 Feb – 9 MarMajor festival

  For ten nights the national institutions are projected onto and open late, so the buildings people normally drive past become the reason to be out. Free, and the triangle fills. Source ↗

Busy — National Folk Festival

• Festival

  Canberra Balloon Spectacular

  14–22 MarMajor festival

  Balloons lift off the lawns in front of Old Parliament House at dawn for nine mornings. They only fly in still air, so the first morning you try is not always the one that works. Source ↗

• Festival

  National Folk Festival

  28 Mar – 12 Apr · usuallyEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedBook early

  Five days over Easter at Exhibition Park, with a campground that turns into a small town for the weekend. It is when the city's accommodation goes first. Source ↗

Still on: Enlighten Festival (27 Feb – 9 Mar)

Peak crowds — National Folk Festival, Anzac Day dawn service

• Nature

  Autumn colour

  15 Apr – 20 May · usually

  The city was planted with northern-hemisphere trees, so the older suburbs and the arboretum turn through late April. Frost sharpens the colour and the first windy day ends it.

• Holiday

  Anzac Day dawn service

  25 AprNational holidayCrowdedClosures

  Tens of thousands stand in the dark at the War Memorial before the march on 25 April. It is the coldest early start in the calendar here and the roads around Campbell close for it. Source ↗

Still on: National Folk Festival (28 Mar – 12 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Season

  Frost and morning fog

  15 May – 31 Aug · usuallyFog season

  Winter mornings start under fog off the lake and clear by mid-morning. Windscreens get scraped, early flights are held now and then, and the afternoons are usually clear.

Still on: Autumn colour (15 Apr – 20 May (usually))

Busy — Winter (July) break in Australia, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Frost and morning fog (15 May – 31 Aug (usually))

Busy — Winter (July) break in Australia, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Frost and morning fog (15 May – 31 Aug (usually))

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Frost and morning fog (15 May – 31 Aug (usually))

Peak crowds — Floriade, Spring break in Australia

• Festival

  Floriade

  12 Sep – 11 OctWildflowers & bloomsCrowded

  A million bulbs planted in Commonwealth Park for a month from mid-September. Free, busiest at weekends, and the beds are pulled out the week after it closes. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Floriade, Spring break in Australia

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Floriade (12 Sep – 11 Oct)

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in November.

Busy — Summer holidays in Australia, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.