November in Hobart: top events in your city this month
The Dandy Warhols are putting a symphony orchestra on stage, Peking Duk and Spiderbait open the month at the Odeon, and Bruny Island is shucking oysters on the beach. Hobart's pool on Keen is the whole island, so a few of these mean a drive north. These are the thirty we'd actually message the group chat about.
Every pick below links to its live page on Keen, with dates, prices and the ticket link. The links retire once an event is done, so if one tells you it's been and gone, that's the truth doing its job. For the always-current version, what's on in Hobart is rebuilt from the catalogue nightly.
Big nights at the Odeon
The Dandy Warhols with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Odeon Theatre, Hobart · Tuesday 24 November
Psych-rock favourites reworked for a full symphony orchestra, one night only. It's the band's first orchestral collaboration in Australia and the TSO is already calling it selling fast, so this is the one to sort first.
Peking Duk: Paradise Album Tour
Odeon Theatre, Hobart · Friday 6 November · 18+
The long-awaited debut album, and a brand-new live show from a duo built for big rooms. Standing in the stalls is the correct choice.
Spiderbait: 30th Anniversary of Ivy and the Big Apples
Odeon Theatre, Hobart · Saturday 7 November
Ivy and the Big Apples played front to back, thirty years on, after a sold-out run around the country in winter. Hobart is the last stop of the encore shows, and it's all ages, so bring whoever first played it to you.
The Rubens: Group Therapy Tour
Odeon Theatre, Hobart · Friday 20 November
Sixth album, guitars back at the front, recorded live and played that way. Hoops is theirs, if you needed the reminder.
Aldous Harding
Odeon Theatre, Hobart · Thursday 19 November
A rare Tasmanian show from one of the great strange voices in songwriting. Go in with no expectations and let her rearrange them.
SAFIA: Internal 10 Year Anniversary Tour
Odeon Theatre, Hobart · Thursday 26 November
Their debut album Internal played in full for its tenth birthday, on the Canberra trio's first tour since 2023. The mate who had it on repeat in 2016 is already in.
The Sisters of Mercy
Odeon Theatre, Hobart · Sunday 29 November
Four decades of dark, boundary-pushing rock in a Tasmanian exclusive, on a Sunday night, which feels right. The Odeon's last week is stacked: The Animals play House of the Rising Sun on the Saturday and Björn Again do ABBA on the Friday.
Smaller rooms, and the rest of the island
Suzi Quatro
Wrest Point, Sandy Bay · Thursday 19 November
A genuine rock and roll original, still going hard, with Baby Animals as special guests. Doors at seven, show at 7:45, and a seated room, so the dancing happens in the aisles.
Tex Perkins and Matt Walker: Before the Show
Hobart Town Hall · Thursday 19 November
Two old friends, a new album and a habit of playing no two nights alike, in the Town Hall. If you'd rather hear it by the water, the same pair play Spring Bay Mill in Triabunna on the Sunday arvo.
Frenzal Rhomb: Sans Souci 23rd Anniversary
Altar Bar, Hobart · Thursday 19 November · 18+
Sans Souci turns 23, which the band insists is an important number, so the whole album gets played loud and more or less in order. Yes, that's three good gigs on one Thursday. Pick a side.
Katie Noonan: Alone but All One
Theatre Royal, Hobart · Friday 13 November
Piano, a string quartet and that voice, for her thirtieth album, an intimate one about love at every stage. The north gets it the next night, at the Royal Oak in Launceston.
The Sweet: The Final Blitz Tour
Albert Hall, Launceston · Saturday 7 November
Thirteen Australian chart hits' worth of glam-rock riffs, led by Andy Scott, on what they're calling the final tour. Launceston gets it, and it's worth the drive up the Midland Highway.
Oysters, wine and a free afternoon at Mona
Bruny Island Oyster Festival
Hotel Bruny, Alonnah · Saturday 7 November
Oysters straight out of the water they grew in, the farmers who grew them, live music, an outdoor bar and the inaugural Shuck Off shucking competition, all in the beer garden. Sort the ferry timetable first, then everything else.
Moo Brew: Live on the Mona Lawns
Mona Lawns, Berriedale · Sunday 22 November Free
Dallas Crane headline an afternoon of fresh Moo Brew, a stout and oyster bar and a lawn full of people, and entry is free. The ferry up the river is the right way to arrive.
Taste the Tamar
Exeter Showgrounds, Exeter · Saturday 14 November
Local wine, regional food and live music, with the makers there to pour it and a picnic rug as the dress code. There's a bus from Launceston, so nobody has to draw the short straw.
Bicheno Food and Wine Festival
Bicheno Lions Park, Bicheno · Saturday 21 November
Killer views, cracking Tassie drops and a food line-up that goes way beyond the plate, one beachside Saturday on the east coast. It has sold out before, so don't sit on it.
Small-town weekends
Verandah Music Festival
Evandale · Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 November
Musicians play from verandahs all over town and you wander between them on foot, program in hand. Quirky, beautiful and very Tasmanian.
TasFaire
Ross Town Hall and the village, Ross · Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 November
Medieval combat, quests, costumes and market stalls take over Ross for the weekend, all ages welcome. Dress up, or spend two days feeling underdressed.
Mount Roland Folk Festival
Sheffield Town Hall and other venues, Sheffield · Friday 13 to Sunday 15 November
Three days of acoustic and folk music, dance and poetry in Sheffield, under the mountain the festival is named after. Small on purpose.
Festival of Roses
Woolmers Estate, Longford · Sunday 22 November
Three thousand roses across 350 varieties in full bloom at a World Heritage estate twenty minutes from Launceston. A long lunch nearby is mandatory.
Stage, screen and a stand-up
Spring Awakening
Wrest Point, Sandy Bay · Friday 6 to Sunday 8 November
The rock musical about growing up that won eight Tonys, including Best Musical, over three days at Wrest Point. Evening shows on the Friday and Saturday, matinees on the weekend.
Giant: The Play, live from the West End
Kingborough Community Hub, Kingston · Sunday 22 November · $22
John Lithgow as Roald Dahl, in the play that won three Oliviers, captured live in London and shown on the big screen on a Sunday afternoon. Launceston gets it at the Albert Hall on the 27th.
Reel Rock 20 Film Tour
Du Cane Brewery and Dining Hall, Launceston · Thursday 19 November · $21
The year's best climbing films with a beer in the brewery hall. If you're in Hobart and the outdoors is the point, the YETI film tour does eleven adventure films at Mountain Culture Brewery on the 2nd.
Dan Rath: Help Me Please
Altar Bar, Hobart · Saturday 7 November · 18+
Award-winning stand-up that comes at you fast, in a small room. Doors at seven, show at 7:30, and the best Saturday-night warm-up before the late ones below.
Galleries, mostly free
Julian Charrière: Hard Core
Mona, Berriedale · on all month, through to March
Stone grinds, icebergs groan and mountains heave: sculpture, film, photography and installation that treat deep time as the material, handled the way only Mona would. The ferry is part of the day.
Coming Home: Kit Hiller
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart · from Friday 6 November Free
A lifetime of north-west landscapes from an artist shaped by living in them, brought back to the city. General entry to TMAG is free, so it's a lunch-break plan as much as a weekend one.
Loving: Photographs of Men in Love 1850s to 1950s
Queen Victoria Art Gallery at Royal Park, Launceston · on all month Free
Hundreds of rare photographs of men in love, taken across a century when it was often a crime to be. Quietly devastating, and free to see at Royal Park.
Late ones
Retro Silent Disco: 80s v 90s v 00s
Hobart City Hall · Saturday 7 November · $50
Three DJs, three decades, and you pick the channel on glowing headphones inside one of Hobart's grandest rooms. The arguments about which channel is best are the night.
HOBOFOPO: Folk-Punk Pop-Up Takeover
Altar Bar, Hobart · Saturday 14 November · 18+
Ten years of folk-punk celebrated by taking over both levels of Altar from 6pm until 2am, The Crooked Fiddle Band among the acts. Every favourite in one building, no ferry required.
Backyard Beats at Boodle Beasley
Boodle Beasley, North Hobart · Sunday 15 November Free
Eight hours of house in a pub backyard, 1pm to 9pm, free entry and dogs welcome. The Sunday session that ruins Monday, in a good way.
The part where you actually go
That's the list. The gap between reading it and standing in one of those rooms is the same as ever: someone has to pick a date and make the call.
That's the job Keen does. The quickest way in is Find a time: pick two or three dates that could work, add an idea or two from this page, and drop one link in the group chat. Everyone answers from their browser, no app and no account needed. You see which date wins, tap once, and it's a real plan with RSVPs and a chat of its own.
And once your mates are on Keen too, it starts doing the noticing for you: everyone marks the nights they're free, and when yours line up, Keen tells you, along with what's on that actually suits the crew. The north gets Recreation Day on Monday 2 November, so if you're in Launceston the month opens with a long weekend. The rest of us have to earn ours.
November's thirty best excuses are above. Pick one, name a night, and send the message.
Start closer in. See what's on in the next few days, pick a night, send the link.
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