What’s hip this April

Back in the day…

APRIL 25 Anzac Day ceremonies this year take on special significance as they will mark the 110th anniversary of Australian soldiers landing at what is now called Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkiye. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs says the Anzac Day Dawn Service will take place at the Anzac Commemorative Site, Gallipoli, followed by a mid-morning memorial service at Lone Pine Cemetery. See dva.gov.au. This year also marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in the Pacific. The Australian National Maritime Museum at Sydney’s Darling Harbour will present a range of activities in coming months.

What to book

THE Museum of Brisbane’s walking tours are back – ideal for first-time visitors or long-time lovers of our capital city. The walking tour program has encouraged thousands of people over the past five years to visit Brisbane’s remarkable past. Step back in time to explore the World War II era of jazz music, US soldiers and the Battle of Brisbane in Walking in Wartime (book at museumofbrisbane.com.au/whats-on/walking-in-wartime/). Or consider Brisbane City Walking Tour: Past and Present, delving into stories of Traditional Custodians, convicts, public art and one of Brisbane’s towering cathedrals, before taking in Museum of Brisbane’s exhibition, New Light: Photography Now + Then (museumof brisbane.com.au/whats-on/brisbane-city-walking-tour-past-and-present/).

IMAGE: Timothy Birch

What to discover

IF YOU thought the Sunshine Coast’s leading contemporary art festival, Horizon, was just for the youngsters, think again. Now in its ninth year, the 10-day festival will run from Friday, May 2, to Sunday, May 11, with more than 50 entertaining and evocative events. Check out Catching A Whiff (a guided walking tour through the aromas of The Falls Farm), the music stylings of Australian/American recording artist CW Stoneking, Scene Through the Screen (a visual art exhibition that celebrates the work and stories of the Jinibara people) and Supperclub Mapleton – Dining Experience (a collaboration between chefs, regenerative farmers and artists at Mapleton Public House). And don’t miss The Daily Muse (a public art project, within the Festival Precinct, where each piece reflects the daily news). Go to horizonfestival.com.au

What to watch

IF YOU enjoyed the triumphs and tribulations of the characters in Season 1 of Ten Pound Poms, the story ramps up in Season 2 on Stan. Based on true events, the series follows a group of immigrants as they leave dreary, post-World War II Britain for a new life in sunny Australia in 1956. The Ten Pound Poms scheme promised adult migrants passage to Oz for only 10 pounds sterling (children travelled for free). It convinced more than a million migrants between 1945 and 1972 to make the long journey. The idea of a better life for a tenner seemed too good to be true. And in many cases, it was … the reality can’t measure up to the hype when you’re struggling to survive, far from the familiarity of life as you knew it on the other side of the globe. As many parents and grandparents of Aussies today came out here as ‘Ten Pound Poms’, the historic drama series certainly pulls at the heartstrings and often shows an ugly side to life Down Under.

What to listen to

ENJOY an intimate, acoustic portrait of the songs that changed the world when Darren Coggan and Damien Leith celebrate the songbook of John Lennon and Paul McCartney in Two of Us. The two-hour show at The Events Centre, Caloundra, from 7.30pm on Saturday, June 7, is back-to-back hits from the two Beatles’ musical partnership and solo careers, including Hey Jude, All You Need Is Love, Yesterday, Imagine, Mull of Kintyre, Eleanor Rigby, Let It Be, Jealous Guy and Beautiful Boy, accompanied by The Strawberry Fields Stringed Quartet. Visit theeventscentre.com.au/event/two-of-us-the-songs-of-lennon-and-mccartney/