There’s a dose of Hollywood nostalgia, a former arts minister’s estate auction and a taste of ancient Greek winemaking in arts editor HELEN MUSA‘s latest “Artsweek”.

The National Film and Sound Archive presents A Day at the Movies, a dementia-friendly screening of Blake Edwards’ musical comedy Victor/Victoria, starring Julie Andrews, with morning tea and lunch included, NFSA, October 31.

The auction of the late ACT arts minister Bill Wood’s estate and other family items goes live online, with bidding through Allbids online, November 4.

The ANU Centre for Classical Studies seminar series presents Dr Xavier Buxton speaking on The Fear of the Other: Aeschylus’ Persians and the Culture of Emotion in Classical Athens, ANU, November 4.

Author Margaret Simons discusses her book Going Digital: The Transformation of the ABC, examining how the national broadcaster has reinvented itself, National Library of Australia, November 5.

The ANU Branch of the Friends of the Australian Archaeological Institute in Athens holds its annual fundraising dinner, with Emlyn Dodd of Adelaide University speaking on ancient Greek winemaking from the Bronze Age to Late Antiquity in Drinking with Dionysus, Hellenic Club, Woden, November 5.

Concerts

• The ANU Jazz Orchestra, conducted by Constantine Campbell, and the ANU Orchestra, conducted by Rowan Harvey-Martin, join the Llewellyn Choir for an evening of orchestral and choral music. Llewellyn Hall, October 29.
• The five-time BBC Proms soloist Piers Lane returns for a landmark performance of Chopin’s complete Nocturnes, concluding the 2026 season at Snow Concert Hall, Snow Concert Hall, October 29.
• Super Rats present a special, fun-sized show celebrating their decades-long fascination with a magical musical tradition, replacing the giant cimbalom with its smaller cousin, the țambal mic, Smith’s Alternative, November 29.
• Indie rock band Youth Group celebrates the 20th anniversary of its number one single Forever Young, performing songs from Skeleton Jar, other favourites and the hit itself, Dissent Café and Bar, Civic, October 31.
• David Pereira presents Strings in Spring III: Fire and Folksong, a recital of Magyar-inspired music by Bartók, Popper, Liszt, Dohnányi and Brahms, with pianist Edward Neeman, cellist Eloise Ng and violinist Tor Fromyhr, The Chapel, Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, Barton, November 1.
• Troubadour and 2023 CityNews Artist of the Year Fred Smith brings America to the stage, a musical safari through the main streets and back roads of the United States of Anxiety. The B, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, November 3.
• Geoff’s Jazz celebrates one of the greatest jazz albums of all time, Art Blakey’s Moanin’, featuring Alex Raupach on trumpet, Tom Fell on tenor saxophone and Harry Sutherland on piano, Smith’s Alternative, November 4.
• The Wesley Lunchtime Concert series welcomes Apeiron Baroque, violinist and violist John Ma and harpsichordist Marie Searles, performing Baroque gems including Mascitti’s sonata inspired by the Greek myth of Psyche, Wesley Music Centre, November 4.
• The Canberra Symphony Orchestra and CSO Chorus, conducted by Jessica Cottis, perform Verdi’s monumental Requiem, written in memory of novelist Alessandro Manzoni, with soloists Helena Dix, Deborah Humble, Paul O’Neill and Warwick Fyfe. The programme opens with Liza Lim’s Dianna, written for former CSO principal horn Dianna Gaetjens, Llewellyn Hall, November 4 and 5.
• The Australian Haydn Ensemble presents Haydn’s Oxford, a program of Haydn symphonies in historical chamber arrangements, in its final Canberra concert for 2026, Gandel Hall, National Gallery of Australia, November 5.
• Clásicos Argentinos is a  piano recital by Marcela Fiorillo, presenting the best music of eight renowned Argentine composers, Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, October 30.

Films

• The Australian premiere of Monument will be followed by a question and answer session with composer Kenneth Lampl, ANU Film Group, Kambri Cinema, October 30.
• The British Film Festival brings dramas, documentaries and romantic comedies to the screen, including Wicker, starring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård, Palace Electric Cinemas, October 28 to November 29.

Galleries

• Rethinking Disrupted Certainties brings together Ian Ireland, David Chatto and Dennis Mortimer in their first collaborative exhibition. Working across painting and mixed media, the artists explore how disruptive events unsettle familiar worlds and challenge established beliefs. All three work from Bunker Arts Studio in Queanbeyan, Rusten House Art Centre, Queanbeyan, until  November 14.
• The Hellenic Club presents Greek linocuts by Michael Winters, an honorary citizen of Leros, as part of Hellenic Week, alongside work by other Greek Australian artists, Apollo Room, Hellenic Club, Woden, October 29.
• Inga Simpson presents A Feeling for Trees, alongside the launch of her new book A Tree Lover’s Guide to Australia. Simpson turned increasingly to photography after the Black Summer bushfires affected the South Coast, where she lives, Q Gallery, Ainslie shops, October 30 to November 12.
• The Canberra Art Biennial celebrates its closing night with music, art and food, ANCA, Dickson, October 30.
• Artist Jacqueline Bradley leads a walk and talk about Observation Benches, meeting at the Visitors Centre before exploring the Australian National Botanic Gardens, Australian National Botanic Gardens, October 31.

News all day, every day at CityNewsQBN.com.au.