Guides

Shows & Culture, at a civilised hour

Comedy with seats and early sessions, theatre matinees, concerts and the big exhibitions — what's worth paying for, what the seniors price actually is, and how to book without surprise fees.

Your state:All of AustraliaVictoriaNSWQueenslandWASATasmaniaACTNT

Showing 34 guides — TAS plus everything national and overseas.

Seniors Festivals State by State: Free Events and Real Highlights
Shows & Culture

Seniors Festivals State by State: Free Events and Real Highlights

Every Australian state and territory runs an annual seniors festival, and together they form a loose national calendar…

A solo traveller’s perspective
Theatre Subscriptions: The Original Exclusive Club
Shows & Culture

Theatre Subscriptions: The Original Exclusive Club

A season subscription to a state theatre, opera or orchestra company is one of the shrewdest cultural decisions an ove…

A solo traveller’s perspective
Beaker Street: Hobart's August Science Festival
Shows & Culture· TAS

Beaker Street: Hobart's August Science Festival

Beaker Street Festival turns Hobart's Salamanca precinct and waterfront into an open-air laboratory each August — part…

A friends-group perspective
Agricultural Shows Beyond the Royals: Australia's Country Show CircuitSmall-town shows beat the big Royals for charm and cost
Shows & Culture

Agricultural Shows Beyond the Royals: Australia's Country Show Circuit

Australia's country show circuit runs almost year-round, with hundreds of agricultural shows spread across every state…

A couple’s perspective
Australian War Memorial: The Last Post at Day's EndFree
Shows & Culture

Australian War Memorial: The Last Post at Day's End

The Australian War Memorial sits at the foot of Mount Ainslie and holds a quiet authority that very few institutions i…

A solo traveller’s perspective
Australian Wooden Boat Festival: Hobart's Free Waterfront SpectacleFree
Shows & Culture

Australian Wooden Boat Festival: Hobart's Free Waterfront Spectacle

Every second February, Sullivans Cove fills with the warm smell of timber and linseed oil as hundreds of wooden vessel…

A couple’s perspective
Dark Mofo: Hobart's Midwinter Festival With Eyes Open
Shows & Culture· TAS

Dark Mofo: Hobart's Midwinter Festival With Eyes Open

Dark Mofo is the winter counterpart to MONA's summer festival, and it is a different creature entirely — rawer, darker…

A couple’s perspective
Heritage Picture Palaces and Art Deco Cinemas, State by State
Shows & Culture

Heritage Picture Palaces and Art Deco Cinemas, State by State

The picture palace was once the social heart of every Australian town, and a remarkable number have survived demolitio…

A couple’s perspective
HOTA and Beyond: The Gold Coast's Surprising Culture Day
Shows & Culture

HOTA and Beyond: The Gold Coast's Surprising Culture Day

The Gold Coast has a cultural side that most visitors walk straight past on their way to the beach. HOTA — Home of the…

A couple’s perspective
Innisfail: Australia's Unexpected Art Deco TownFree
Shows & Culture

Innisfail: Australia's Unexpected Art Deco Town

Rebuilt after a devastating 1918 cyclone, Innisfail wound up with one of Australia's most coherent collections of art…

A couple’s perspective
Murwillumbah's Tweed Gallery and Margaret Olley Art CentreFree
Shows & Culture

Murwillumbah's Tweed Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre

On the banks of the Tweed River in Murwillumbah, the Tweed Regional Gallery quietly houses one of the most affecting a…

A friends-group perspective
National Film and Sound Archive: Australia's Screen Memory in Acton
Shows & Culture

National Film and Sound Archive: Australia's Screen Memory in Acton

The National Film and Sound Archive sits in one of Canberra's finest art deco buildings, quietly holding the nation's…

A couple’s perspective
National Film and Sound Archive: Free Screen History, CanberraFree
Shows & Culture

National Film and Sound Archive: Free Screen History, Canberra

The National Film and Sound Archive sits in one of Canberra's finest heritage buildings, a few minutes from the city c…

A solo traveller’s perspective
National Library and High Court: Free Lakeside IconsFree
Shows & Culture

National Library and High Court: Free Lakeside Icons

Canberra's cultural circuit is richer than most visitors realise. While the Australian War Memorial, the National Gall…

A friends-group perspective
National Library of Australia: Exhibitions and the Bookplate LunchFree
Shows & Culture

National Library of Australia: Exhibitions and the Bookplate Lunch

The National Library of Australia sits quietly on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin, one of Canberra's most civilised i…

A couple’s perspective
Questacon and the National Museum: Canberra for the Curious
Shows & Culture

Questacon and the National Museum: Canberra for the Curious

Canberra's lakeside precinct delivers two of Australia's most thought-provoking cultural institutions within easy walk…

A friends-group perspective
QVMAG: Launceston's Free Museum and Art Gallery DoubleFree
Shows & Culture· TAS

QVMAG: Launceston's Free Museum and Art Gallery Double

The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVMAG) in Launceston is the largest regional museum and art gallery in Aust…

A couple’s perspective
Regional Live-Music Pub Venues Worth a Detour, State by State
Shows & Culture

Regional Live-Music Pub Venues Worth a Detour, State by State

Australia's regional pub music circuit has been quietly sustaining itself for decades, long after the city venues move…

A friends-group perspective
Regional Theatres and Arts Centres, State by State
Shows & Culture

Regional Theatres and Arts Centres, State by State

The most satisfying live performance experiences in Australia don't always require a capital city. From the beautifull…

A couple’s perspective
Royal Shows Compared: Ekka, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth
Shows & Culture

Royal Shows Compared: Ekka, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth

Australia's Royal Agricultural Shows are among the oldest continuous public events on the continent, and they reward t…

A solo traveller’s perspective
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra: A Concert Habit at Federation HallSeniors discount
Shows & Culture· TAS

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra: A Concert Habit at Federation Hall

Federation Concert Hall sits quietly beside the Wrest Point waterfront in Sandy Bay, a short drive or taxi ride from H…

A solo traveller’s perspective
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra: Concerts at Federation Concert HallSeniors discount
Shows & Culture· TAS

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra: Concerts at Federation Concert Hall

Federation Concert Hall sits right on Hobart's waterfront, and it's the kind of room that reminds you why acoustics ma…

A friends-group perspective
The Australian Opal Centre: Lightning Ridge's New National Museum
Shows & Culture

The Australian Opal Centre: Lightning Ridge's New National Museum

Lightning Ridge is one of those Australian places that rewards the traveller who makes the effort to reach it. The Aus…

A solo traveller’s perspective
The Theatre Royal, Hobart: Australia's Oldest Working Theatre
Shows & Culture· TAS

The Theatre Royal, Hobart: Australia's Oldest Working Theatre

The Theatre Royal in Hobart has been staging live performance since 1837, making it Australia's oldest continuously op…

A friends-group perspective
TMAG: Hobart's Free Museum and Art Gallery on the WaterfrontFree
Shows & Culture· TAS

TMAG: Hobart's Free Museum and Art Gallery on the Waterfront

The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery occupies a handsome historic precinct one flat block from Hobart's waterfront and…

A solo traveller’s perspective
TMAG: Hobart's Free Museum and Art Gallery on the WaterfrontFree
Shows & Culture· TAS

TMAG: Hobart's Free Museum and Art Gallery on the Waterfront

TMAG — the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery — occupies a cluster of convict-era sandstone buildings at Hobart's Sulliv…

A couple’s perspective
WA Maritime Museum, Fremantle: Submarines and Sailing HistorySeniors discount
Shows & Culture

WA Maritime Museum, Fremantle: Submarines and Sailing History

The WA Maritime Museum on Victoria Quay in Fremantle sits at the edge of the working harbour and traces Western Austra…

A couple’s perspective
Adelaide Botanic Garden: A Gentle Green Walk in the CityFree
Shows & Culture

Adelaide Botanic Garden: A Gentle Green Walk in the City

Adelaide Botanic Garden sits quietly at the edge of the city, a free 51-hectare green space that rewards a slow mornin…

A solo traveller’s perspective
Australia's Best Free Galleries: One in Every Capital CityFree
Shows & Culture

Australia's Best Free Galleries: One in Every Capital City

Australia's major public art galleries offer free entry to their permanent collections, making them one of the most re…

A solo traveller’s perspective
Canberra's Free National Institutions: A Culture Day for Over-50sFree
Shows & Culture

Canberra's Free National Institutions: A Culture Day for Over-50s

Canberra's national institutions sit within easy reach of each other around Lake Burley Griffin, and entry to the big…

A friends-group perspective
Hobart Heritage: The Female Factory and Battery Point on Foot
Shows & Culture· TAS

Hobart Heritage: The Female Factory and Battery Point on Foot

Hobart's south side holds two of Tasmania's most affecting heritage sites within easy walking distance of each other:…

A friends-group perspective
MONA: Hobart's Underground Art Museum for Over-50 Visitors
Shows & Culture· TAS

MONA: Hobart's Underground Art Museum for Over-50 Visitors

MONA — the Museum of Old and New Art — sits carved into the sandstone cliffs of Berriedale, about twelve kilometres no…

A couple’s perspective
Port Arthur: A Full Day at Tasmania's Convict History Site
Shows & Culture· TAS

Port Arthur: A Full Day at Tasmania's Convict History Site

Port Arthur Historic Site is one of Australia's most significant convict-era places, sitting on the Tasman Peninsula a…

A solo traveller’s perspective
State Library Free Days: A Quiet Culture Stop in Every CapitalFree
Shows & Culture

State Library Free Days: A Quiet Culture Stop in Every Capital

Australia's state and national libraries are among the most underrated free stops for over-50 travellers — grand readi…

A friends-group perspective