The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. Sign up to get it by email. This week’s issue is written by Natasha Frost, a reporter in Melbourne.
Balmy temperatures have set in across much of Australia. It won’t last — the forecast is back to cooler weather early next week — but the dose of warmth is a good reminder that summer, with its plethora of cultural attractions, is not too far away.
We’ve put together a shortlist of some offerings in art, culture, design, music and theater that’ll be available through the end of the year, to whet your appetite for what’s to come.
Australian Capital Territory
Floriade at the Commonwealth Park, Canberra. Nicknamed “Australia’s Celebration of Spring,” this free flower festival, which starts this weekend, boasts more than a million blooms. NightFest, its after-dark component, is ticketed, with admission for adults starting from 35 Australian dollars ($23), and runs for four nights at the end of September. (Sept. 16 to Oct. 15)
Emily Kam Kngwarray at The National Gallery, Canberra. This retrospective explores the work of Ms. Kngwarray, an Anmatyerre artist from the Utopia community in the Northern Territory who died in 1996. Over an eight-year career begun late in life, she produced more than 3,000 works, across many different media. (Dec. 2 to April 28.)
New South Wales
Venus and Adonis at the Seymour Centre. A new play by the award-winning dramaturg Damien Ryan makes its world premiere. Billed as an analog to the 1998 film “Shakespeare in Love,” the play “tells the story of Will Shakespeare’s rival — a poet hidden in history. Hers is an extraordinary story.” (Sept. 29 to Oct. 21)
SXSW Sydney. This festival of creativity and ideas, ordinarily held in Austin, Tex., comes to Sydney for the first time. Speakers include Charlie Brooker, the creator of “Black Mirror”; Chance the Rapper; and Cal Henderson, the co-founder of Slack. Don’t miss the world premiere of the Wiggles documentary, “Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles.” (Oct. 15 to Oct. 22)
Northern Territory
Desert Festival, Mparntwe/Alice Springs. Now in its 22nd year, this festival features music, dance, art and talks by creators from across Australia, with a particular focus on Aboriginal culture. One highlight: A bushfoods-inspired dinner that “pays tribute to the knowledge of local Indigenous women and their sustainable harvesting practices.” (Sept. 21 to Oct. 1)
Queensland
The Ring Cycle at Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane. See one of opera’s greatest works, as a new production of Wagner’s 15-hour epic, performed over four nights, comes to Queensland. (Dec. 1 to Dec. 31)
Woodford Folk Festival. Experience performances from thousands of artists across 35 venues, encompassing music, circus, comedy, cabaret, workshops and ceremonies, at this festival about 45 miles north of Brisbane. (Dec. 27 to Jan. 1)
South Australia
Tarnanthi at Art Gallery of South Australia. This exhibition showcases contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art from across the continent, bolstered by a program of talks, performances and workshops. (Oct. 20 to Jan. 21)
Adelaide Film Festival. This biennial event showcases international and Australian cinema, with a focus on emerging talent and boundary-pushing filmmaking. “The Royal Hotel” and “Housekeeping For Beginners” are among the Australian-made films premiering there. This year’s festival will focus on cinema from Indonesia. (Oct. 18 to Oct. 29)
Tasmania
The Unconformity, Queenstown. Expect the unexpected: This arts festival, sometimes described as “weird and wonderful,” celebrates Tasmania’s remote West Coast. “Our unique proposition is to be a cultural conduit into western Tasmania — a place hard to get to and harder to engage — by mining a new cultural commodity with the spirit of independence, boldness, risk and adventure that is melded to our region’s D.N.A.,” the organizers write. (Oct. 19 to Oct. 22)
Victoria
Melbourne Fringe Festival, various venues. Find a hidden gem or a new favorite artist at this open-access festival, with events as varied as an aquatic choir at the Melbourne City Baths (you’ll be encouraged to get into the pool); an “experimental sport/theater piece” about the life of Tennessee Williams on a dodge ball court; and a laser light show on the Yarra River. Many events are free. (Oct. 3 to Oct. 22)
Melbourne Jazz Festival, various venues. Jazz across the spectrum, from traditional to contemporary and everything in between. (Oct. 20 to Oct. 29)
Western Australia
Thomas Dambo’s Giants of Mandurah. Some things defy description, and this free outdoor exhibition from the “world’s leading recycle artist” might be one of them. (Through Nov. 11)
Here are the week’s stories.
