Canberra really shines in late February/early March with two truly beautiful festivals. They each run for a week, bookended by a weekend at either side. Enlighten comes first, with many iconic buildings of the Nation’s Capital lit up in a celebration of both light and colour, through projected images.
National Gallery of Australia
National Portrait Gallery
Night Noodle Markets
Night Noodle Markets
Lake Burley Griffin
National Library of Australia
Old Parliament House
On the same weekend that Enlighten finishes up, the Canberra Balloon Spectacular (hmm, surely we could come up with a better name than that!?) begins. Certain members of our family rather relish their leisurely weekend sleep-ins, so I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that this festival is (and has been!) on occasions, quite a challenge. However this year we ALL managed to haul our weary bodies out of bed by 6.30am, to make our way down to the lawns of Old Parliament House to enjoy the many splendid hot air balloons taking flight.
Gather & Graze 
My daughter made it to Enlighten this year (she lives in Canberra) and thoroughly enjoyed it. We only live and hour or so down the road, so will have to make the effort next year. We work in Canberra so it’s hard to get motivated to do extra trips for the events….sad I know.
Thank you for sharing with us this beautiful festival, Margot 🙂
Love the slideshow! Works really well. I’d be in my element as I just love most types of light installations. Grief, it’s a long time since I’ve seen anything. And that includes performance. Turning into a right pleb! Oh, and 6.30 am is kinda pushing it. Unless I was off travelling somewhere:) Hope you all enjoyed it.
Thanks Johnny! I wish there was a way of adjusting the speed of the slideshows… a little slow for my liking, but happy to know that you enjoyed it all the same.
If you’re into light installations, you would love the James Turrell exhibition currently on at our National Gallery, which I managed to see late last week. It was like spending an hour or two in another world… some rooms were really quite breathtaking to experience! There’s a link to it below, if you’re interested in having a quick look.
http://nga.gov.au/JamesTurrell/
Both festivals look fantastic! Always wanted to go to the hot-air balloon festival held up-state NY late September/early October but Stefano has never been around so far! 😢
The colors, the emotions and the atmosphere must be awesome! Lovely, lovely pics, Margot!
Thanks so much Francesca… it really is a lovely time of year here in Canberra, with so much going on! I hope one year you all manage to get along to the festival in up-state NY, I’m sure you’ll LOVE it! 🙂 Have a great week!
Spectacular baloons, but no no, I would never set my foot in any of the baskets. 🙂
Hmm, I’m not sure about going up in one either Meggie! It all looks rather gentle and romantic though… as long as all goes to plan! 😉
Beautiful photos!
Thanks very much!
I love the balloons but yes 6:30 is a tad early for me!:))
🙂 It’s crazy… it’s only once a year, but I still seem to struggle with it! Always worth it when you manage to get there though!