Canberra: A Hundred Years

On Tuesday March 12, 2013, Canberra celebrated its 100^th birthday.

The birthday weekend, and the public holiday on Monday, weren’t the only celebration days—celebratory events were in the lead up to March 12 and will continue throughout the year.

Today, the Governor-General Quentin Bryce (Queen Elizabeth II’s representative), Prime Minister Julia Gillard and other officials recreated the naming of the city ceremony of a hundred years ago. In 1913, Lady Denman opened her gold cigarette case, and withdrew a card with the winning name-after a nationwide competition to name the capital of Australia. Her husband Lord Thomas Denman was the then Governor-General.

Canberra is a purpose-built, planned city, halfway between Melbourne and Sydney. In March 1913, the first foundation stones were laid.

Yesterday, a day of events on the annual Canberra Day Holiday around Parliament House and Lake Burley Griffin, culminated in a fireworks display. Five stages around the lake enabled everyone to enjoy different styles of music, and roving minstrels (artists) moved in and out of the crowd. Each morning for a week, the lake will also be ground zero for the launch of hot air balloons.

Events this week include readings, speeches, films, a multi-arts festival from March 14-24, a comedy festival from March 19-23, concerts at the Spiegel Garden at Old Parliament House, an exhibition of basketry, exhibitions at the Arboretum, photograph displays, and the Capithetical Exhibition to May 11 of town planning and architectural designs.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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