Design Canberra Festival 2019

Overview

From architecture and interiors to artistic objects and craft, this Canberra festival covers all things design. Back for its sixth year, Design Canberra Festival is your chance to spend a weekend contemplating everything pretty yet purposeful.

Running from Monday, November 4 through Sunday, November 24, Design Canberra celebrates our capital as a global design hub. This year's theme is 'utopia' and the festival will see more than 150 (mostly free) events, exhibitions, talks, tours, activations, markets, collaborations, artist studios and open homes take place across 21 days.

The program covers every aspect of Canberra's epic design history, from the 75,000 year old culture of the Ngunnawal people to the city's renowned 50s architecture and its contemporary and future infrastructure.

So, expect US architects Walter Burley and Marion Griffin's visionary designs from a century ago; experimental modernist architecture of the 1950s and 60s; and boundary-pushing, sustainable and utopia-driven designs of today. Plus, Canberra will also celebrate the 100th anniversary of Bauhaus — a German design movement that reflected the utopian ideas of the 20s and early 30s — with Bauhaus in Canberra.

One of the most intriguing recurring events is Living Rooms, which allows you to explore the living rooms of acclaimed Canberra houses. You'll find pop-up design exhibitions in these living rooms, so even if you can't buy the house, you can buy the furniture, homewares and some of the jewellery on display.

Other program highlights include the opening night party, a weekend design market at the National Portrait Gallery, workshops and both the graphic intervention and architectural photography competitions.

With so much art, architecture and new design popping up in Canberra this spring, we suggest you pack a bag, take a trip south and spend a couple of days exploring the idea of a perfectly designed world.

Design Canberra 2019 is taking place from Monday, November 4 to Sunday, November 24. For the full program, head here.