Enlighten Canberra  Enlighten Canberra is an outdoor annual art and cultural festival held in Canberra, Australia featuring illuminating light installations and projections, performances from local and interstate musicians, dining and film events. The festival is an Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government initiative held annually in early March, encouraging people to "See Canberra in a whole new light." The centrepiece of Enlighten Canberra is the illuminating of Canberra's cultural institutions after dark, including Old Parliament House, Parliament House and the National Gallery of Australia (since the 2011 event) as well as the National Portrait Gallery and Questacon (since the 2012 event). There is also live music, film screenings and after-hours tours. Since its inception, Enlighten has become increasingly popular, attracting 115,000 visitors in 2013 and 131,500 in 2014. Attendance rose again in 2015, to 287,874 visitors. In 2008 ACT Labor made an election promise to deliver a new autumn event for Canberra, Australia—this was the beginnings of Enlighten Canberra. In December 2010, Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation Andrew Barr, announced the ACT Government Enlighten would be a major annual event, commencing in March 2011. He said national attractions that would participate with lit facades after dark included the National Gallery of Australia, Parliament House and Old Parliament House. Ticketed events were also announced, including headline international acts in concert. In its first year, along with other events, Enlighten hosted rock band INXS, jazz guitarist George Benson, and world-music supergroup Afro Celt Sound System. To help promote Enlighten, INXS arrived in Canberra in a helicopter, landing on the lawns of Old Parliament House two weeks before their concert appearance. INXS band member Kirk Pengilly told reporters that the show planned for Enlighten 2011 was "probably the biggest production that we've put on at any show in Australia." As part of the festival, cultural institutions in the Parliamentary triangle were illuminated after dark, including Old Parliament House, Parliament House and the National Gallery of Australia. Despite the big-ticket performances and media stunts, the inaugural festival cost $2.4 million, and there was poor community interest, with just 8600 visitors. The first Enlighten did however attract 2400 visitors from interstate or overseas who came to Canberra specifically for Enlighten or extended their stay because of it. The slogan for Enlighten, announced in December 2010, is "See Canberra in a whole new light"  In its second year, Enlighten was made a part of the Canberra Festival.