Enlighten Canberra

Enlighten Canberra is an annual art and cultural festival held in the Australian capital of Canberra. It’s a month-long outdoor festival featuring spectacular light installations and projections, live performances from local and international musicians, film screenings, exhibitions, and other events for attendees of all ages.

The history of the festival began in 2008, when the Australian Labor Party (ACT Branch) made an election promise to launch an autumn event in Canberra. The new festival was officially announced in December 2010 by Andrew Barr, ACT Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation. The event was named the ACT Government Enlighten. Barr promised that it would feature lit facades of Canberra’s notable buildings such as Old Parliament House, Parliament House and the National Gallery of Australia.

The first edition of the festival was held in March 2011. The event featured world music supergroup Afro Celt Sound System, American jazz guitarist George Benson, and Australian rock band INXS. To help attract attention to Enlighten, INXS arrived in Canberra in a helicopter and landed on the lawns of Old Parliament House two weeks before their show.

Despite the large-scale promo campaign and impressive budget, the first Enlighten attracted only 8,600 visitors. However, the organizers still considered it a success because the festival did draw 2,400 visitors from out of state. Over the years, Enlighten Canberra has grown both in scale and attendance. In 2015, it attracted over 280,000 attendees.

According to the organizers, the main goal of Enlighten Canberra is to encourage people to see Canberra in a whole new light, both literally and figuratively. The illuminating of the city’s signature buildings after dark is the centerpiece of the festival. As soon as the sun sets and it gets dark, the National Gallery of Australia, Parliament House, Old Parliament House, the National Portrait Gallery, and Questacon – the National Science and Technology Centre are lit up with multicolored lights. These light projections are free for everyone to attend.

The program of the festival also features exhibitions, performances, food events, and other activities held throughout Canberra. Some events are free while others require and admission fee. Most paid events are concentrated within the so-called Parliamentary Triangle, the ceremonial precinct of Canberra formed by Commonwealth, Kings and Constitution Avenues. During the festival, the Parliamentary Triangle is nicknamed the Electric Garden.