Enjoying the Four Seasons in Canberra

Post

Subscribe

Posted 2019-07-07 by Belladonna ⇒ follow

The summers are blisteringly hot and the winters are frosty and fiercely cold, but in spring the air is warm and fragrant with the scent of flowers, and during autumn, the trees put on their spectacular robes of gold and red.

Welcome to the four seasons of Canberra!

One of the unique features of our Bush Capital is that it experiences four distinct seasons. And the longer you live here, the more you begin to see and appreciate the changes that happen at the turns of the year when one season ends and another one begins. Even if you're cooped up inside a public service office all day long, you'll still notice the golden leaves of the trees outside your window during the autumn, and you'll still be scraping frost off your car and wearing your collection of puffer jackets in the winter and turning the heater on in your house when it starts to get chilly (even if that means turning the heater on before the traditional heater season date of April 25th!).

Canberra's four seasons make for a very colourful year. And a very eventful one too, because for every season, there is a celebration, activity or event that is specific to that time of the year.

Here are the four seasons of Canberra and some of the ways we celebrate them:

Spring
Spring in Canberra means the biggest celebration of spring in Australia: Floriade. Held this year from September 14-October 13, Floriade will once again showcase spectacular displays of more than one million bulbs and annuals as well as provide a huge and diverse program of food, markets, music and entertainment, including the very popular NightFest. However, if you can't get enough of tiptoeing through the tulips and want more, then you can also visit the magnificent Tulip Top Gardens , just 15 minutes' drive north of Canberra. Spring in Canberra also means school and church fetes and fairs , the beautiful Canberra Nara Candle festival , Halloween , gorgeous spring high teas, deadly snakes emerging from their winter hibernation, and wattle trees blooming everywhere.

Summer
Summer in Canberra is sweltering, burning hot. It means celebrating Christmas and Carols by Candlelight at Commonwealth Park; the Summer Sounds concert series and Sunset Cinema at the Australian National Botanic Gardens; New Year's Eve Fireworks in the city, Australia Day celebrations; the National Multicultural Festival ; feasting on mangoes and cherries; going camping; having picnics; swimming in our rivers; heading to the south coast ; and that big celebration of all things cars called Summernats.

Autumn
Canberra puts on a truly spectacular show during the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. It's the time of trees swapping their vivid green summer finery for robes of gold and red splendor all across the city; a time for picnics and camping; the Enlighten Festival ; the Canberra Balloon Spectacular ; Canberra Day celebrations; Skyfire fireworks; apple picking ; the nearby Collector Pumpkin Festival; enjoying Canberra wine after the grape harvest; and Easter egg hunts.

And finally,

Winter
Winter LOVES Canberra. It seems to last forever here, with temperatures plummeting below zero, biting arctic-like winds, frosty mornings, and that abysmal cold that can chill you even right through your puffer jackets and thick woollen layers. Winter is the time to go to the snowfields such as Thredbo or, closer to home, Corin Forest ; it's the time of Winter Festivals in the city; the Truffle festival ; and Christmas in July. It's the time to hibernate and enjoy being at home.