At a glance
- When
- Thursday 5 to Sunday 15 November 2026 (launch Thursday 5 November, 6pm)
- Where
- Venues across Canberra, with Civic Square and 180 London Circuit as the hub
- Size
- 130+ events, exhibitions, markets, open studios, tours and workshops, with more than 500 artists, makers and designers
- Free
- Launch (registration required), Stories in the Dark in Civic Square (daily 7am to 10pm), Kinetic Sculpture Race (Saturday 7 November, 11am to 4pm), Open Studios (7 and 8 November), most exhibitions
- Ticketed
- Dissent by Design $60; ALTER $50 or $30; BOLD Dissent from $45; Closing Party $30; Clothing the Loop $16.50 to $90; tours and workshops from $15
- Design market
- Undercurrent Design Market, Ainslie Arts Centre, Braddon: Friday 13 November 4pm to 8pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4pm, entry by donation
- Who it’s for
- Anyone in Canberra who wants a free or cheap outing with kids or friends, makers and gift shoppers, and people who like talks on design and sustainability
- What to do now
- Register for the Thursday 5 November launch and for Open Studios if you want updates, and book the paid sessions you want, because some are limited to a small group
- Last checked
- Wednesday 28 October 2026, against the festival website and the Craft + Design Canberra site
- Not yet confirmed
- Parking and bus advice for each venue, the wet-weather plan for the outdoor Kinetic Sculpture Race
The Craft + Design Canberra Festival runs from Thursday 5 to Sunday 15 November 2026, and a lot of it costs nothing. The organisers list more than 130 events across the city and say more than 500 artists, makers and designers are involved. This year’s theme is Dissent, which the festival reads as craft and design used to question how things are made, used and thrown away.
This guide sorts the program by what you can walk into for free, what needs a ticket and what it costs, with the days and times as published on the festival’s own pages on 28 October 2026. Canberra is on daylight saving time, so every time here is Canberra clock time.
What is on for free?
The festival’s own free list is long. These are the free items that need the least planning:
| What | When | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Festival launch and exhibition openings (registration required) | Thursday 5 November, 6pm to 9pm, speeches at 6:30pm | Civic Square and Craft + Design Canberra, 180 London Circuit |
| Stories in the Dark, an animated public artwork by Eggpicnic | 5 to 15 November, daily 7am to 10pm | Civic Square |
| Canberra Kinetic Sculpture Race | Saturday 7 November, 11am to 4pm | National Carillon, Queen Elizabeth II Island |
| Open Studios | Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November, 10am to 4pm | Studios and organisations across Canberra (register your interest for updates) |
| Delightly, a scientific glass and plasma exhibition by Harriet Schwarzrock | 5 to 25 November, Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm | Canberra Glassworks, 11 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston |
| Bespoke Utopia, a slow-design exhibition by 14 Canberra artists | 23 October to 15 November, Wednesday to Sunday, noon to 5pm | M16 Artspace, 21 Blaxland Crescent, Griffith |
| Designing Currency, a talk by coin designers Neve Foxcroft and Lydia Ashe (registration required) | Friday 6 November, 10am | Royal Australian Mint |
| Pattern Play drop-in workshop | Saturday 14 November, 10am to noon and 1pm to 3pm | Ainslie Arts Centre, 30 Elouera Street, Braddon |
The exhibitions that open on the Thursday night are in the Craft + Design Canberra gallery at 180 London Circuit and in Civic Square: NEST, EMERGENCY, the Robert Foster Metal Prize, Small Rituals and Soft Matter. The festival lists each of these as free entry.
When is the Undercurrent Design Market?
The Undercurrent Design Market is on from Friday 13 to Sunday 15 November at the Ainslie Arts Centre, 30 Elouera Street, Braddon. The festival lists the hours as Friday 4pm to 8pm and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4pm. Entry is by donation, and the festival asks you to register your interest to receive updates.
More than 50 makers from across Australia are listed, working in jewellery, glass, ceramics, textiles, wood, metal, fashion and homewares. Stallholders named on the page include Blackburn Studio, Bursaria Workshop, Eggpicnic, Ferro Forma and Froni Binns Porcelain. The festival says the venue has off-street parking, accessible parking, wheelchair access and an accessible bathroom.
If you want to shop for gifts, Open Studios on the weekend of 7 and 8 November is a second way to buy directly from makers, in their own workspaces. Participants listed include Canberra Glassworks, Strathnairn Arts, Blackburn Studio and Glass Room Canberra. The festival has not published crowd figures for the market, so there is no official guide to the quietest session.
Which events need a ticket, and what do they cost?
Prices below are the general public prices on the festival’s event pages. Members of Craft + Design Canberra get lower prices on several of them.
| Event | When | Where | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dissent by Design, a symposium with Alison Page, Tal Fitzpatrick, Rob Hopkins and others | Friday 6 November, 1pm to 4:30pm | National Film and Sound Archive, Acton | $60 ($40 members); the early-bird price closed on 20 September |
| Clothing the Loop, a sustainable fashion and dance festival | Friday 6 November, 6pm to 11:30pm; Saturday 7 November, 9:30am to 4:30pm | Canberra Institute of Technology, Woden, 36 Bradley Street, Phillip | $16.50 to $90 across the sessions |
| ALTER, a double bill of design, dance, disability and dissent | Saturday 7 November, 2pm and 7:30pm | Belconnen Arts Centre, 118 Emu Bank | $50 ($30 concession); the 7:30pm show is audio described |
| BOLD Dissent, a two-day conference on dance and design | Thursday 12 and Friday 13 November, 10am to 5pm | Canberra Museum and Gallery, 176 London Circuit | $45 for a half day or $75 for a full day or $135 for both days; Auslan and audio description at all sessions |
| Nightwalks with Teenagers, a walking performance led by young people | Thursday 12 to Saturday 14 November, 7:30pm, 1.5 to 3 hours | Starts in Glebe Park, ends in Haig Park | $15 |
| Closing Party: Dance of Dissent | Saturday 14 November, 6pm to 8pm | National Film and Sound Archive courtyard, 1 McCoy Circuit, Acton | $30 ($24 members); Auslan interpreted and audio described |
The festival says booking is required for ALTER, BOLD Dissent, the Closing Party and Nightwalks with Teenagers. Tickets are linked from the festival’s tickets page and from each event page. The festival has not said which sessions are close to selling out.
What can I do with kids?
The festival has a “Kids + Families” itinerary. Two items on the program suit children:
- Canberra Kinetic Sculpture Race: teams build human-powered machines that cross land, sand and water at the National Carillon on Saturday 7 November, 11am to 4pm. It is free, and the festival says visitors can look inside the machines and talk to the builders.
- Wing It, a children’s atelier: Thursday 12 November, 10am to 11:30am or 1pm to 3:30pm, at The Learning Nest Co. in Greenway, $20 (booking essential).
The festival says the race venue has wheelchair access, an accessible bathroom and off-street parking. It has not published a wet-weather plan for an outdoor event on the lake, so check the festival site on the morning.
What are the walks and tours?
The festival’s “Walk + Explore” trail is mostly ticketed, with small groups:
| Tour | When | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Walk on Country with Tyronne Bell (Ngunawal) on Black Mountain, rated easy to moderate with some steep sections | Sunday 15 November, 10am to noon | $85 ($68 members) |
| Moonlight Meanders night walks | Saturday 7 November (meets at Canberra Contemporary, Parkes) and Saturday 14 November (meets at Smith’s Alternative, Alinga Street), 8:30pm to 10pm | $50 |
| Braddon Mural Magic, starting at 27 Lonsdale Street | Sunday 8 November, 10:30am to noon and 12:30pm to 2pm | $15 |
| Northbourne Avenue heritage tour, 358 Northbourne Avenue, Dickson | Tuesday 10 and Thursday 12 November, 5:30pm to 7pm | $35 ($29 members) |
| Canberra Open Homes, Australian Institute of Architects tours of houses and buildings | 8 to 15 November, sessions of about an hour at different venues | $35 ($28 members and AIA members) |
The Open Homes list includes buildings in Curtin, Deakin, Ainslie, Turner and Wanniassa, the new Australian War Memorial entrance and two sessions at the CIT in Woden. Each session has its own booking, so you pick the building rather than buying a pass.
Are there hands-on workshops?
Yes, and they are the most expensive part of the program per head. The festival lists these at Craft + Design Canberra, Level 1, North Building, 180 London Circuit:
- Textile Transformations: Radical Rugs, Monday 9 November, 5:30pm to 8pm, $80.
- Dissent Through Decal, Tuesday 10 November, 5:30pm to 8:30pm, $80.
- Hacking Histories: Sonified Textiles, Wednesday 11 November, 5:30pm to 7:30pm, $80.
- Slow Stitched Talismans: Acts of Gentle Dissent, Thursday 12 November, 5:30pm to 8pm, $80.
Members pay $65 for each. Cheaper options include Art Making for You at Pearce Community Centre (Wednesday 11 November, 7:30pm to 9:30pm, $60) and Very Cross Stitch (Wednesday 11 November, noon to 1pm, free, booking required).
How do I get there?
The festival does not publish one transport page, and the venues are spread across Civic, Acton, Braddon, Kingston, Woden and Belconnen. What the festival does say is limited to venue access notes: Ainslie Arts Centre, the National Carillon and Canberra Institute of Technology are listed with parking or accessible parking, and Black Mountain tour guests are told there is ample car and bus parking at the top of Telstra Tower.
For buses and light rail, use the Transport Canberra journey planner and service alerts for the day you travel. The festival has not given walking times between venues and transport stops, so work those out on your own device before you leave.
What if I need access support?
The festival has a dedicated access page. It lists Auslan interpretation and audio description at selected events, welcomes guide and assistance dogs at most venues and says quiet or low-sensory spaces are available at selected venues. Access bookings, including companion cards, can be made online when you book, or by calling (02) 6262 9333 or emailing access@craftanddesigncanberra.org. The festival recommends reading each venue’s access notes and contacting the venue before booking.
Where else does the festival reach?
Some of the longer-running work is outside the city centre. POWER – The Future is Here, a collaboration between artist Dennis Golding and students, opens at Canberra Contemporary on 7 November and runs to 30 January 2027. Elder Art runs from 6 to 22 November at Queanbeyan Hive. Weaving Waters | Mandji the Murray Cod, a community weaving project at Tuggeranong Arts Centre, started on 5 July and runs to 13 December, with some paid and some free sessions.
Sources
- 2026 Craft + Design Canberra Festival — home page and program (checked 28 October 2026)
- Festival highlights and itineraries
- Undercurrent Design Market
- Canberra Kinetic Sculpture Race
- Dissent by Design, BOLD Dissent and Closing Party
- Festival launch and exhibition openings
- Festival access information and tickets
- Craft + Design Canberra
Photos: Civic Square, Ainslie Arts Centre, Lonsdale Street, Canberra Glassworks, Canberra Museum and Gallery and the National Carillon, as credited in each caption (text added to the featured image).
OZ Local Updates is an independent local guide and is not affiliated with Craft + Design Canberra, the ACT Government or the festival’s venues. Times, prices and bookings can change; check the official pages above before you go.