26 January 2023. It starts with laser beams in brilliant colours illuminating the moving jets of water; huge arcs of colour cut through the dark sky as the jets of water sway to and fro. They change from red to brilliant yellow, to purple, moving back and forth to the soundtrack. It’s as if there are huge glowing orbs at the end of each giant stream of water. And it all keeps changing and changing again, colour upon colour, in time to the music. This is the beginning of Lights on the Lake, and it’s mesmerizing.

Night markets, food and drink, and a massive light show are coming to Lake Burley Griffin!

This is what the advertising promises; a massive light show on the lake. What is that? What would that look like?

For the first time, Lights on the Lake will transform Lake Burley Griffin into a vibrant canvas. Witness a stunning display of light and colour projected onto two enormous water screens, accompanied by a visual feast of lasers, lights and a stirring soundtrack.

Words can’t really explain it of course, but I’d seen movies projected onto a screen of water before – in China, and in Peru – so I had some idea what to expect. In Lima there’s a Fantasy Fountain. It’s a single line of very high jets of water. The water is pushed through with such force and speed that it emerges as mist. The mist is then used as the screen for a laser-light and film display all set to music. Anyway Lights on the Lake for sure sounded like a new and interesting way to be part of the Australia Day celebrations.

It’s a holiday! All over the country there are gatherings in backyards and parks with beer and a barbie. That’s a barbecue, not idiotic dolls responsible for brainwashing little girls the world over that tall and thin is better. I feel a rant coming on here, but I’ll restrain myself. Also a word about Aussie lingo: television is tellie, barbecue is barbie, breakfast is brekkie, etc. Even grown adults call breakfast brekkie. Oops, I’ve digressed, so now back to the Australia Day holiday: in Canberra there’s a big public beer-and-barbie party on the lakeshore in Commonwealth Park. We choose not to go to that, but we do go to Lights on the Lake. And it’s so much more than we’d imagined!





Suzanne and Julie went to the Aboriginal Australia/Invasion Day gathering in the morning. Don and I couldn’t drag our lazy asses out of bed early enough, but later really wished we had. By all accounts it was a raucous, joyous gathering of indigenous and colonists alike with mingling, and speeches, and Aboriginal biker gangs up from Sydney. From their descriptions and photos it was a heartfelt and uplifting experience.

The Aboriginal people call it, and rightly so, Survival Day, or more commonly Invasion Day; the day they lost their country and their way of life to colonial invaders. January 26, 1788. There seems to be a bit more harmony today, a bit more willingness to share the space, more acknowledgment of the horrors perpetrated, more reconciliation, more returning of the land to the indigenous people. It’s better. Far from perfect, but somewhat better. Australia has a National Sorry Day; a recognition of the wrongs that were perpetrated, and an attempt to right them. It’s at least something. There is still so much more that needs doing, and for those that don’t know, white Australians can be incredibly racist.

But back to the party at the lake! We don’t see any Indigenous people at Lights on the Lake. What we do see is people from all over the world gathered to have a good time, gathered for the party, gathered for the big show. It’s fun time, family time, and food time. There are so many food booths it’s hard to make a choice.





If you ever doubted that Australia is a multi-cultural society all you have to do is go to an event like this.

















This 12-minute show will occur twice nightly from 25–28 January. This free community event is great for families and friends, so gather your favourite people, pack your picnic blanket and head down to Commonwealth Place on Lake Burley Griffin to celebrate.





When we first arrive it’s relatively quiet,





and we find ourselves some seats right in the middle.





In the beginning it’s all about the people,


























I moved to Canberra in 1962 as a child. It was a small town then with a population of only 60,000. Now it’s half a million, and Canberra has begun to grow up. And these days it knows how to come out and play.























Dusk arrives, and on the lake some lights get our attention, shining like the opening act of a concert. It’s nearly showtime!




By now it feels like the whole city has arrived.





And then it begins.





Huge arcs of colour fill the sky








accompanied by fountains rising and falling, and by dancing pulsating lights.

Then from the mist a dreamy Australia emerges: the ancient land, Uluru, koala bears and kangaroos, sports stars, national icons, beloved fire fighters, Dame Edna Everage, brumbies, Bondi beach, famous Australians, and everyday Aussies at work, and so much more.


























It’s a huge display of light and colour projected onto water screens, and accompanied by high pressure water jets and laser lights set to music. My photos don’t even begin to do justice to this phenomenal show, which I’m sure would have been even more remarkable had the wind not been blowing the mist away even as the images fell upon it.

Broadcast onto a shimmering screen of mist, Lights on the Lake was a great reflection of Australian life, moving, celebratory, and pretty darn spectacular. I bet the other 10,000 or so people who were there with us would agree.







Canberra is situated on the land of the Ngunnawal People, Ngunnawal Country, acknowledged with respect to their Elders – past, present and emerging.



Next post: the first of three about Santorini, that most iconic of Greek islands.






All words and images by Alison Louise Armstrong unless otherwise noted
© Alison Louise Armstrong and Adventures in Wonderland – a pilgrimage of the heart, 2010-2023.