Canberra Nightlife Guide: New Acton, Braddon and the Capital's Best Bars, Craft Beer and Live Music

Canberra's nightlife has undergone a genuine transformation since 2012, when the ACT Government's small bar licensing reforms (allowing venues of under 100 people to obtain a bar licence without the restrictive requirements of a full club licence) triggered an explosion of small bar and restaurant-bar openings that fundamentally changed the city's after-dark character. The New Acton precinct (on the Lake Burley Griffin foreshore), Braddon (the revitalised inner-north suburb), and the Kingston Foreshore have become genuine nightlife destinations that compare well with equivalent precincts in Sydney and Melbourne, particularly for quality of food, wine, and craft beer.

New Acton — the Nishi building and the New Acton precinct (Acton, on the Lake Burley Griffin waterfront) provide Canberra's finest concentration of bars and restaurants in a spectacular waterfront setting: the Nishi bar and restaurant, the Oddfellows café, and the New Acton outdoor precinct create an after-dark environment that has no equal in the rest of Canberra. The Dendy Cinema (also in Nishi) provides excellent arthouse film programming that integrates with the after-cinema dining and drinking in the precinct.

Braddon — the Lonsdale Street precinct in Braddon is Canberra's most vibrant inner-city bar and restaurant strip: the Hippo Co (one of Canberra's finest small bars), the Bar Rochford (the natural wine and shared plates destination), the craft beer focused bars of Lonsdale Street (BentSpoke Brewing, now relocated), and the excellent restaurant density of Braddon create a nightlife precinct that is genuinely strong by Australian capital city standards.

Kingston Foreshore and Manuka — the Kingston Foreshore provides Canberra's finest waterfront dining and bar experience, with the excellent restaurant and bar strip along the Kingston peninsula providing Lake Burley Griffin views across to the Brindabella Range. The Manuka precinct provides the traditional Canberra dining and late-night strip used by the Manuka Oval and the AIS sporting event audiences.

Live music — Canberra's live music scene is intimate but active: the Transit Bar (the finest small live music venue in Canberra), the Basement (ANU, university live music), and the regular outdoor concerts at the National Gallery, the National Museum, and the Canberra Theatre Centre provide a diverse live music calendar.

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