What do a human-powered machine that can travel across land and water, a sustainable home, a repaired garment and a street performance have in common?

They are all ways of challenging conventional thinking, and they will come together at this year’s Craft + Design Canberra Festival.

From unusual inventions racing across land, sand and Lake Burley Griffin to open homes, fashion, art and performances, the festival will explore how creativity can challenge the way we live, consume and interact with our surroundings.

With more than 130 events featuring over 500 creatives, the festival runs from 5 to 15 November under the theme Dissent, inviting Canberrans to look at familiar things differently. The festival will turn galleries, homes, streets, studios and public spaces into places for people to explore, question and create.

And while some events are ticketed, much of the program is free, with activities for families, art lovers, architecture enthusiasts, fashion followers and those simply curious about the city around them.

For Craft + Design Canberra CEO and artistic director Jodie Cunningham, dissent is not necessarily about protest or confrontation. It is about questioning accepted ways of doing things and imagining something better.

“We chose the theme of Dissent to reflect the state of the world, to challenge, and to offer hope,” Ms Cunningham told Region.

“At its best, dissent is an act of care. You dissent because you believe something better is possible.

“A repaired garment is an act of dissent. A house designed to need less energy is an act of dissent. A quilt stitched by a hundred hands is an act of dissent. A sculpture made of recycled glass is an act of dissent,” Ms Cunningham said.

The theme also reflects the experience of Black Summer and the role creativity and community connections can play during difficult times.

Ms Cunningham said the festival was shaped by concerns about climate change and the state of the world, but its response was deliberately creative rather than despairing.

One of the festival’s more unusual events is the Canberra Kinetic Sculpture Race at the National Carillon, where teams will put their handmade, human-powered creations to the test across land, sand and water.

Part artwork and part vehicle, the machines reflect the festival’s theme by challenging conventional ideas of transport, engineering and public art.

Architecture enthusiasts can explore award-winning sustainable homes through Canberra Open Homes, including an energy-positive house in Turner, a fully electric home in Deakin and a renovated Ainslie cottage.

Tours will also include the new CIT campus in Woden and the Australian War Memorial’s new entrance.

Sustainability runs through the program, from fashion workshops and markets challenging fast fashion to exhibitions exploring how discarded materials can be given new life.

More than 40 artists will open their studios, while hands-on workshops will give visitors an opportunity to try different crafts.

At Canberra Contemporary, Hal Fitzpatrick’s Craftivism exhibition explores how textiles and traditional craft practices can become tools for social commentary.

“Artists use thread, glass, clay and metal to say something about the world, and the work asks us to stop, look and think,” Ms Cunningham said.

Performance also takes dissent beyond galleries. Canberra Youth Theatre will collaborate with a Canadian group on a production moving through city streets, while ALTER at Belconnen Arts Centre brings together dancers living with and without disability to explore identity and inclusion.

Symposiums will explore how design can tackle housing and climate challenges, and whether Canberra measures its success in the right ways. Exhibitions will range from recycled glass art and contemporary jewellery to the design of Australia’s coins.

Beyond the individual events, the festival reflects Canberra’s ambition to gain recognition through UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network.

Ms Cunningham said the bid drew on the capital’s architectural heritage, First Nations design traditions and contemporary creative industries, positioning design as part of everyday life rather than something confined to galleries.

The festival will begin with a free opening celebration in Civic Square on Thursday 5 November, featuring a smoking ceremony, live music and the announcement of the Robert Foster Metal Prize winners.

The 2024 festival attracted more than 140,000 visits and public art encounters, including around 90,000 direct attendees. Organisers expect this year’s larger program to draw substantial crowds, although individual workshops and talks will have limited capacities.

For visitors unsure where to begin, the festival website offers curated itineraries organised around interests such as architecture, design and free activities.

The full program, ticket details and free-event listings are available at craftanddesigncanberrafestival.org.