See ideas in motion. Experience 10 days of dance, fashion, theatre and performance, from an Austral/Asian double bill featuring dancers with and without Disability to night walks led by Canberra teenagers, closing with a Festival party curated by Liz Lea.
6 + 7 November 2026 | Belconnen Arts Centre
Design and dance collide in a double-bill exploring the interplay between body, identity and cross-cultural exchange. ALTER is an Austral/Asian collaboration presented by dancers living with and without disability - offering a beautiful hybrid of ephemeral visual art and dance, illustrating the power of dissent through lived and imagined realities.
12 – 13 November 2026 | Canberra Museum and Gallery
BOLD Dissent is a two-day conference featuring leading dancers, designers and thinkers from across Australia and the world bringing a focus on dissent. Shaking up the way we create and present performing arts and the ways in which organisations and artists can create more accessible and inclusive environments for the future.
7 November 2026 | National Carillon
Canberra Kinetic Sculpture Race is a one-day spectacle of human-powered, amphibious art machines. Teams create imaginative sculptures that travel across land, sand, and water in a whimsical celebration of creativity and dissent. Audiences can explore, watch, and cheer on these inventive, handmade moving artworks.
14 November 2026 | National Film and Sound Archive of Australia
Join us in the courtyard of the National Film and Sound Archive to close the 2026 Craft + Design Canberra Festival with an evening of dance, design and celebration under the Canberra sky.
6 + 7 November 2026 | Canberra Institute of Technology, Woden
Fashion meets activism. Performance meets purpose. Dissent becomes a work of art. Across one vibrant weekend, Clothing the Loop unfolds as a spectacular evening event and a full day of activities. Live dance, a runway parade, panel talks, clothes swaps, installations, tours and practical workshops celebrate the intersection of sustainable design, live performance and creative activism.
7 + 14 November 2026 | Lakeside + City
In a spirited act of dissent against the boundaries of public space, Localjinni presents two projected night walks through Canberra’s Civic Centre. Led by local artists these saunters reclaim the right to roam and creatively reimagine the city after dark.
12, 13 + 14 November 2026 | City
Nightwalks with Teenagers is created with local youth, who plan, design and lead public walks through Canberra at night, exploring the neighbourhood with members of the community. It is focused on the power of walking together, bringing together teens and adults to have a unique social experience in shared spaces.
7 November 2026 | Canberra Spinners and Weavers
Join Rebecca Mayo and Canberra Spinners and Weavers for a special collaborative event as part of Living City: People, Plants and Place, supported by artsACT and the Australian National University School of Art and Design. Experience the Plant Sensibilia Machine, a large-scale, hand-operated textile dyeing device that brings the creative process from the studio to the public realm.
14 November 2026 | Canberra Contemporary
As part of Quietly Seething: Fate, Fury and Transmutation, a major new solo exhibition by feminist artist and craftivist Dr Tal Fitzpatrick, artist Sophie Dumaresq and dancer Juliet Burnett have developed performances that respond to the theme of feminine rage.
