Enlighten: All Ages Welcome?

Canberra is growing, and needs to continue growing in order to meet residential demands and changing cultural tastes. Several years ago, Floriade added the Night Festival to ever increasing popularity. There are new restaurants opening every week it seems, and the addition of city sculptures to bring ‘culture’ to our every day walk.

Yet, through all this, it seems as though there are very few ‘after dark’ activities available to families, particularly those with young children. This is where I feel Enlighten helps to bridge that void, or at least, bring forth a starting point for future expansion.

Enlighten has grown over the years, now encompassing the Night Noodle Markets (absolutely delicious, by the way), and numerous partner events held at various Canberra places of interest. The National Zoo and Aquarium holds after dark safaris; Parliament House, Questacon, Old Parliament House all have extended opening hours and additional actives; the Botanical Gardens holds a music and ‘sound scraping’ event after dark; and there is even a Ghost Tour at the National Film and Sound Archives.

There is so much that locals of all ages can enjoy, a fact reiterated by local resident, Natasha, who has taken her two young children to Enlighten for several years now. “There are plenty of activities for kids, and they also enjoy non- kids specific fun stuff.” Natasha said, speaking of her children Sammy, 6 years old, and Inna, 3 years old.

There may be some concern that with the growing popularity of the Night Noodle Markets, and the consumption of alcohol in the vicinity, that the ‘family friendly’ atmosphere may be tainted. However, I found that the emphasis was more on the architectural projections and the food on offer, rather than alcohol, a view shared by Gungahlin Resident, Scott, aged 28.

“I was more interested in the good quality of different foods…rather then going for sorta a big night out on the lawns of Parliament House,” Scott said, also noting that the inflatable giant rabbits, and roving circus performers seemed very much geared towards families.

Natasha said she felt comfortable and safe throughout the evening, and that her children loved the lights, noting that Enlighten helped them to broaden their cultural experience and gave them something to think about and discuss.

Enlighten has proven once again to be wonderful at melding all ages together. The lights are viewed in wonder by people of all ages; it had the appearance of a very safe and inclusive environment, and proved to be a lovely opportunity for an evening out for families with young children, something that Canberra could certainly do with more of.