Events

Thursday night @ Griffith Community Hall

Welcome to Canberräng 2023 and our 20th Anniversary for the event, can you believe it? We kick things off at the Griffith Community Hall, home to Jumptown’s regular class since it was built and home to the Jumptown Jammers. We love showing this modern architectural delight off to interstate dancers. Start off on the right foot with some leisurely social dancing to an amazing DJ line up. Catch up with old friends and new, and ease yourself into the weekend!

The next day, why not explore Canberra’s eclectic array of coffee shops in Braddon, browse the shops in the Canberra Centre, then check out Tiger Lane Canberra’s newest dining precinct.

Time: 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm, 3 August 2023
Venue: Griffith Community Hall, 53 Stuart Street, Griffith ACT
Music: Canberräng DJs
Cost: $20 or included in Canberräng Pass. Door and online sales may be available pending full pass holder access and capacity allowing.
Catering: BYO; meals available to purchase nearby
Floor: Wooden, sprung (soft soled soled shoes only please)

Friday night @ Hotel Kurrajong

The Kurrajong Hotel is an iconic building built in 1926, steeped in political history. Its roots are reflected in the hotel’s beautiful Art Deco decor, nostalgic ambient lighting, jazz music and a lounge filled with books and artworks on the city’s political history and leaders. Be greeted by log fire and our friendly volunteers smiling faces as we relight the hotel’s halls with the Jazzy sounds of the Andrew Dickeson’s Blue Rhythm Band (who, by the way, are pretty darn excited to be playing for dancers again!). Get ready to be taken back in time and stay on the dance floor all night long!

Time: 7:30 pm – 11:30 pm, 4 August 2023
Venue: Hotel Kurrajong, 8 National Circuit, Barton
Music: Andrew Dickeson’s Blue Rhythm Band (Sydney)
Cost: $50 or included in Canberräng Pass. Door and online sales may be available pending full pass holder access and capacity allowing.
Catering: Food and drinks available for purchase at the bar; no BYO
Floor: Wooden, sprung

Saturday afternoon @ Verity Lane

Verity Lane Market takes its name from Verity Hewitt who, looking for a new challenge opened Canberra’s first bookshop in 1938 in the heritage-listed Sydney Building, the oldest commercial building in central Canberra. The light-filled venue overlooks the treetops of Verity Lane and is the perfect spot to dance away on a sunny winter afternoon, plus you can sample the lunchtime offerings from the market-hall vendors downstairs.

We are thrilled to be showcasing the amazing Sydney jazz vocalist Kate Wadey in her Canberräng debut. Her band of brilliant artists displays a level of craft that will have you transfixed, leaving you full of joy and happiness, with a song in your heart and in your dancing shoes.

As you enjoy the new Verity Lane and make new history as we celebrate 20 years of Canberräng, cast a thought to the history of this venue that leaves a legacy, encapsulating life in the new capital along with a remarkable woman’s journey filled with an international passion that entered into a world of Cold War suspicion and intrigue for decades. Read more about her incredible story here.

Time: 12:30 pm – 3.30 pm, 5 August 2023
Venue: ‘Juliet’, upstairs at Verity Lane Market, 50 Northbourne Ave, Canberra CBD
Music: Kate Wadey Quartet (Sydney)
Cost: $35 or included in Canberräng Pass. Door and online sales may be available pending full pass holder access and capacity allowing.
Catering: Food and drinks available for purchase; no BYO
Floor: Wooden, on concrete

Saturday night @ Gold Creek Station

A highlight of Canberräng is showcasing unique places which we turn into dance venues. We can’t wait to show you this totally Australian outback experience right at our front door. It’s an old homestead style station with a working kelpie called Davo! Let’s set up camp for the ‘Bush Ball’ then venture into a speakeasy located upstairs into the late night. One of our all-time favourites is back. The wonderful jazz vocalist Jessie Gordon is headed back to Canberräng after her latest travels around the US and ready to party! Jessie brings the world of roots music into the 21st Century. Hang onto your akubras, Saturday night is traditionally where Canberrängers go all in, so bust out your finest threads and come prepared to dance hard and bring this old barn down.

Time: 7:30 pm – till late, 5 August 2023
Venue: Gold Creek Station, Victoria St, Hall
Music: Jessie Gordon Swingtet (Australia/America)
Cost: $55 or included in Canberräng Pass. Door and online sales may be available pending full pass holder access and capacity allowing.
Catering: Food and wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks available for purchase; no BYO
Floor: Wooden, sprung

Saturday late night @ Gold Creek Station

Yes, the Canberräng late night is back! This old station will be the home to both the ‘Bush Ball’ and the Late Night ‘Speakeasy’. We will venture upstairs into a barn style loft with its 1920’s styling resembling a prohibition speakeasy, taking you into the wee hours of the morning with live blues from Jessie Gordon’s Slow Burn. We guarantee you’ll want to keep dancing, no matter how tired you think you are. Plus swingin’ lindy sets from our DJs downstairs.

Time: 12:00 am – till late, 5 August 2023
Venue: Gold Creek Station, Victoria St, Hall
Music: Jessie Gordon’s Slow Burn (Australia/America)
Cost: $25 or included in Canberräng Pass. Door and online sales may be available pending full pass holder access and capacity allowing.
Catering: Late night supper included, wine, beer, spirits and soft drinks available for purchase; no BYO
Floor: Wooden, sprung

Sunday morning @ the Old Bus Depot Markets

Today’s the day to step out in your Sunday best for a spot of free social dancing! We’ll be bringing some vintage flair to one of Canberra’s weekend institutions and sharing the joy of swing dance with market goers. Grab a coffee and come along for a dance to fun, classic sets from our Canberräng DJs.

As well as some international tourism awards and being in the top ten Canberra ‘Places of the Heart’ to visit, the Old Bus Depot Markets have featured in almost every Canberräng over the years. The Markets have a slightly longer history than Canberräng, celebrating over 20 years since the building, once home to Action buses, was transformed into a bustling artistic market. Here is a photo of dancers at the Markets at Canberräng 2004. There is just something about this location, the Sunday morning of Canberräng, which makes you start to think about getting on a bus and dancing at a winery next!

Time: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm, 6 August 2023
Venue: Old Bus Depot Markets, 21 Wentworth Ave, Kingston
Music: Canberräng DJs
Cost: Some of the best things in life are FREE!
Catering: So many great options at the markets – check them out here
Floor: Concrete

Sunday afternoon @ Lake George Winery

Always a crowd favourite each year, this gig promises wine, cosy vibes with a band and DJ line-up that always top off this experience. True story, the deal with Canberräng was to always try and (at least) change up the two afternoon events and try somewhere new. Back in 2010 we first ventured down the Federal Highway out to Lake George Winery on a couple of buses. What eventuated wasn’t just some impromptu singing on the buses, lead by Oren Forward and Vas Pelecanos, but a magical experience that has kept us coming back for over 10 years. We can’t keep away and neither can the different managers and owners since we started. The event has been carefully handed onto to each new representative of the Winery with white gloves, always treating the organisers and our guests with open arms and hospitality since the first. This is a huge thank you to Lake George Winery. We think they love the event almost as much as we do!

To match the energy of the Winery, Eamon McNeil and the Skellingtons will play their debut gig. Led by award-winning trumpeter and singer Eamon McNelis, and featuring the extraordinarily talented Jessie Gordon, The Skellingtons play evocative, swinging tunes from the 1930s and 1940s. Repertoire from the catalogues of Billie Holiday, Una Mae Carlisle, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton and Hoagy Carmichael. Maybe you have heard Eamon play at MLX featuring the Pearly Shells, with Leigh Barker at 1929 Studios, or even at the Polo in Canberra.

This is the one event nobody misses and this year will be no different!

Time: 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm, 6 August 2023
Venue: Lake George Winery, Federal Highway, Lake George
Music: Eamon McNeil and the Skellingtons (Melbourne), ft. Jessie Gordon
Cost: $45 or included in Canberräng Pass. Door and online sales may be available pending full pass holder access and capacity allowing.
Catering: Food and drinks and wonderful wines from the cellar door available for purchase; no BYO
Floor: Wooden, sprung
Transport: Book a return bus ticket for $22 when you register (not included in the Canberräng pass).

Bus timings:

1:00 pm – depart from the Old Bus Depot Markets, Kingston. Please be at the meeting spot by 12:45 pm at the latest.
5:00 pm – depart from the Lake George Winery. The bus will drop you back at the Canberra City (Civic) Bus Interchange at approximately 5:50 pm as well as the Old Bus Depot Markets Kingston at approximately 6:00 pm.

Sunday night @ The Duxton

We know we know, all of the venues are amazing and have some kind of nostalgia or history around Canberra and Canberräng, so you are following the theme this year. Something of a Greatest Hits compilation of bands, DJ’s and amazing venues for the last 20 years. Ok that was sooo 2019! But stay with us, The Duxton and The Loft (upstairs) is also one of our favourite events. The organisers often say that since it’s the last one, but honestly it’s more than that.

We fought pretty hard to come back to The Duxton this year in a post Covid venue era. This event is all about showcasing our incredible Canberräng DJ’s (ok we have said that before, we know, but this DJ line-up!), chilled vibes, tasty food, solid beats and great conversations – you may even see a soul train go by! So definitely stick around, have one more sleep over Sunday night and don’t miss the chance to squeeze in some last dances and chats with your favourite interstate pals and stretch that Canberräng experience for a few more hours.

Time: 7:00 pm – 11.00 pm, 6 August 2023
Venue: The Loft at The Duxton, 8 Macpherson St, O’Connor
Music: Canberräng DJs
Cost: $20 or included in Canberräng Pass. Door and online sales may be available pending full pass holder access and capacity allowing.
Catering: Food and drinks available for purchase; no BYO
Floor: Wooden, sprung